The Innocent Mixup
by innocent-illusory
Summary: An incident concerning Allen, Timcanpy and...a shiny penny? brings havoc in the Black Order. Kanda, Lavi, Lenalee and Miranda are the poor victims of its serious consequence. "Die in hell, Allen Walker!" Chapter 17: The Unexpected.
1. Mindboggling Corridors

_This story is Post-Akuma Black Order Invasion and let's says that there aren't any crystal-types yet…._

_Disclaimer: Hoshino-sensei owns D. Gray-man. We don't. (Darn it!)_

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**The Innocent Mix-up**

**Chapter 1: **_**Mind-boggling Corridors**_

One week has passed since the Akuma Invasion in the Black Order. The Headquarters is slowly recovering from the damages of the incident. Our exorcists, though not yet fully recovered, are up and about the corridors. Although they are back to their energetic selves, their innocence are in an extremely weak state and are therefore being stored for revitalization. But this did not apply to Allen Walker for he was a parasitic-type.

Unlike the other exorcists, Allen Walker did not await for the return of his weapon, for he had his intact. But same with the other exorcists, he cannot use his innocence yet for it is still under recovery.

While the other exorcists were busy doing their own activities and anxiously waiting for their weapons' return, Allen Walker was casually walking down the mind-boggling corridors of the Black Order. Mind-boggling it is; Allen Walker found himself lost again.

"Aww…I never get use to these corridors." Allen sighed as he continued walking, hoping to find some kind-hearted person to shed him some light towards the cafeteria.

Allen was walking down another random corridor when a door ahead of him along the corridor slid open and out came Reever carrying four containers stacked on top of each other and some papers on top of the stack.

"Good morning Reever-san. Ano, can you…" Before Allen could ask Reever where the cafeteria is, Reever cut him in between. "Allen-kun! I'm so glad you're here." Reever beamed at the white-haired exorcist. "Can you please take these to Komui's? I have a lot of paperwork to do and it will sure spare me a lot of time if you take this down to Komui's for me," he said.

Allen, not being the type to refuse any favors, agreed to do so and took the stack from Reever. "Reever-san, can I ask what are inside of these containers?"

"Oh, inside are Kanda, Lavi, Lenalee and Miranda's innocence." Reever pointed at the labels on the side of the containers (Authors note: Okay, let's just say they put them in containers.). Each container was labeled with their owner's name. "Since their innocence experienced maximum usage in the previous battle, they're in a terribly weak state. I had to run some test on them and here are results." He gestured towards the papers on top of the stack, which Allen saw was a bunch of complicated computations that made him dizzy. "And now, I'm done with the test, Komui's going to embed them in weapons."

"Err..can you tell me where Komui's office is?" Allen asked.

It surprised Reever that Allen-kun could still not get around the Headquarters without getting lost. "This boy just doesn't have any sense of direction," Reever thought. Finding the question trivial, but nevertheless, knowing that the cursed-boy would surely get lost, he answered, "Oh, Komui's office is just down there." Reever pointed at the direction where Allen came from. "And then turn right and then turn left at the second corridor you see. Komui's office is just straight ahead."

Allen processed the said information in his head. The pleasant cursed-boy then asked one last question before his leave. "Reever-san…"

"Yes, Allen..?"

"Where's the cafeteria?"


	2. Golem Incident

**Chapter 2: **_**Golem Incident**_

Allen Walker was happily walking to Komui's office with Reever's said directions. He was glad that after this deed he was finally going to be able to head for the cafeteria. Allen was now thinking of his feast in the cafeteria; he was mentally drooling in his head.

Then a golden blur caught his peripheral view. It was Timcanpy who was freely fluttering around the corridors. The cursed-boy secretly envied his golden friend for his sense of direction. No matter where he flew, Timcanpy always found his way around.

"What's up Tim?" Allen beamed at his golden companion. "Care to join me later for a feast in the cafeteria?"

Timcanpy fluttered his wings in excitement and circled around the white-haired exorcist.

"I'll take that as a yes," said Allen.

Timcanpy rested on top of Allen's head as he walked to Komui's office. Then, the golden golem spotted a shiny penny a few feet ahead of them. Timcanpy was fascinated by the shiny metal so he flew ahead of the cursed-boy towards the shiny penny. Timcanpy lowered himself towards the penny and picked it up with his tiny golem hands.

However, the cursed boy behind the golden golem was not watching his step and therefore, Allen accidentally stepped on Timcanpy's long tail which caused him to slip backwards and fall. The containers he held fell open, spilling out their contents and the data papers scattered everywhere.

Timcanpy went berserk. He ferociously growled and barred his sharp teeth in pain as he ragingly flapped his wings.

"Oww…" Allen rubbed the sore spot where he landed. As Allen's senses came back, he quickly assessed the situation. He saw that the papers were scattered everywhere and the balls of raw innocence where out in the open. Conclusion: "Oh, shit..!"

Allen quickly stood up and started collecting the balls of innocence. "How do I know which one's who's?!" Allen said to himself. "They damn all look the same!"

Allen got the containers and randomly placed the balls of innocence in each of them. Allen decided to swing it out with luck, though the probability of putting them in the right order is pretty much impossible. But he was always lucky, right? Allen gulped.

"Errr…I'm sure that the Science Department will definitely be able to notice the mix-up," Allen said to himself. "I mean they couldn't make a mistake such as…well, err…putting them in wrong weapons. Yeah, that's right. They're the Science Department; they're not stupid…ehehe"

But unbeknownst the white-haired exorcist, he stood to be corrected…

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_Minna-san! __**Innocent-illusory**__ here, this is our first story so far so please R&R. Constructive criticism is very much appreciated. Reviews inspire us to continue on…so the more reviews, the faster the updates! Thank you _


	3. Meet the Victims

_Konichiwa! _**Innocent-Illusory**_ here! Wow, we are so happy to have our first reviewers ever, so we dedicate this chapter to __Ai Minamoto__ and __Banny148.__ Thank you so much. This story is just getting started…_

_And, again we don't own D. Gray-man…._

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**Chapter 3**_**: Meet the Victims**_

In the cafeteria, Kanda, Lavi and Lenalee were enjoying each other's company, rather Lavi and Lenalee enjoyed each other's company while Kanda tried to ignore them and have peace with his soba and tea.

Lavi scooted over to where Kanda was sitting. "Aww…come on Yuu-chan! Join us!" Lavi placed an arm around Kanda's shoulders. A vein popped out of the anti-social samurai's temple.

"How many times have I told you not to call me by my first name, Rabbit?!" Kanda growled at the red-haired bookman. "You're lucky that I don't have Mugen right now or else you'd be putting your own death in your records right now!"

"That's why I'm taking advantage of this time," Lavi said. "I never get to tease Yuu-chan with Mugen-san around." Lavi started braiding Kanda's long, black hair.

"You bastard!" Now, Kanda was seriously pissed off. No one touches the hair. Kanda quickly stood up and motioned to strangle Lavi. Lavi yelped in fright. Fortunately for the bookman, the referee showed up just in time.

"Okay, break it up you two," Lenalee said with authority. And automatically, the two male exorcists settled down.

"You guys are always at it," Lenalee continued. "Lavi, you know how Yuu-chan…" Lenalee paused as she realized the sudden slip of her tongue.

A dark aura loomed over Kanda. He hated being addressed by his first name but he had a policy not to hit women, especially ones that he has known for almost the entirety of his life.

"I'm so sorry, Kanda." Lenalee quickly apologized.

Lavi laughed. "See, Yuu. You should just get used to it. Even Lenalee is unconsciously calling you that."

Kanda glared at the Rabbit but decided to ignore him instead. "Che…"

Then, the cafeteria door slammed open and a cold, gloomy wind rushed inside the room.

"I sense an ominous presence…" Kanda said.

It was no ominous presence; rather it was Allen Walker's pitiful presence. Allen Walker was standing outside the cafeteria door, awfully pale and profusely sweaty. Despite his self encouragement that the little accident with his companions' innocence in the corridor was frivolous and was surely to be corrected by the Science Department, he had a gut feeling that something definitely wrong was going to happen. And seeing the possible victims of the incident in the cafeteria made him even guiltier.

"What's wrong Allen-kun?" Lenalee was the first to approach the cursed-boy. Allen gulped. "Oh, err…nothing. Everything's…fine," he managed to say despite of his nervousness.

"You're awfully pale, Allen-kun. You must be terribly hungry," Lavi said with concern for the younger exorcist. "Come on, Lenalee and I will bring you to Jerry's…"

"No…I don't want to eat," Allen said. He suddenly lost his appetite because of the guilt and nervousness bothering him.

The people in the cafeteria gasped in shock. Lenalee and Lavi felt that their hearts skipped a beat. Kanda cocked an eyebrow at the cursed boy; even he was intrigued at the boy's ironic words.

"Allen-kun, you're gonna turn anorexic!" Lavi exclaimed.

Allen's shocking words had an impact at the people in the cafeteria but it hit Jerry the worst.

"Why, Allen-kun?! Why?! Don't you love me anymore?" Jerry sobbed from the metal bars of his kitchen, tears streaming down his eyes. "Has my cooking not been good enough for you? What has caused the sudden lost of your appetite?! Is it the new recipes I let you try? Food poisoning?!" he continued sobbing.

Krory was about to order something from Jerry through the metal bars. "Jerry-san, can I please have one order of…"

"That's it!" Jerry threw his apron on the floor. Krory gasped. He was shocked by the cook's sudden outburst of anguish. It seems that Krory wasn't getting any food for today, that's for sure. "I shall even polish my cooking skills! If Allen-kun doesn't get his appetite back, then I am a failure as a cook," the pink-haired cook proclaimed. "I will be on leave for one week to further hone my cooking skills. I shall be back for you, Allen-kun," he sniffed. "Au revoir, my dears!" Jerry hung a sign behind the metal bars that said: 'Chef on leave' and left the kitchen immediately.

"Oh, that's just great Moyashi! Now we won't get any food to eat for a week," Kanda said, not showing the slightest sign of sympathy for the troubled cursed-boy.

Allen ignored Kanda's statement and took a seat at the opposite side of the table. Lenalee and Lavi sat beside the cursed-boy, putting him in between them.

"This is so totally not like you Allen…" Lavi said, putting a hand on Allen's shoulder.

"No, I'm fine really…there's no need to worry about." Allen gave them a faint smile. Allen slowly pulled himself together. He was relieved that the nervousness was slowly fading away.

And then there was a brief silence.

"Oh yeah, I just remembered something." Lenalee broke the moment of silence. "Komui nii-chan told me that we'd be getting our weapons back by tomorrow."

Allen froze at this statement and his heart was racing again. He started sweating again. "Oh, really…I see," he said nervously

Kanda noticed Allen's strange behavior at the statement. He slammed his hands on the table and abruptly stood up. "Moyashi, what's up with you?! You're hiding something from us, aren't you?" he barked at the younger exorcist in front of him.

Allen didn't want to tell them that there's a high possibility that their innocence might've been mixed-up and that it's entirely his fault because he couldn't put their innocence back into the right containers. He would most certainly die of an early death. 'Allen Walker: died at a young age of fifteen, a cursed boy who lived for both humans and Akumas alike. Died at the hands of his nakama…'Allen could picture this engraved in his tombstone. Allen shivered at the thought. He had to fend off the suspicious Kanda. He too slammed his hands on the table and stood up, eyes in contact with Kanda's. "No, I am not keeping anything from you! You're being paranoid, Kanda!" Allen yelled. "And don't call me Moyashi! It's Allen, A-L-L-E-N. BAKAnda!"

Kanda moved his face closer to the younger exorcist's. "You ARE a Moyashi, so I'm sticking to it," he hissed at the cursed boy.

Allen didn't want to lose especially to Kanda so he moved his face even closer to the older exorcist in front of him. "Ooh…girly boy's all pissed right now. Maybe your ribbon's on too tight…BA-KAN-DA," Allen said deviously.

"Hey, please calm down you two," Lenalee stood at the side of the two raging exorcists, trying her best to ease the two.

"Shut up!" Allen and Kanda snapped at Lenalee. Lenalee was appalled but it seems that it was no helping them; they were completely ablaze. They continued on with their bickering. They were already creating such a ruckus in the cafeteria. Lenalee decided to sit this one out until it settles down. Lavi on the other was looking around the place until he spotted something…

"Damn you, Moyashi!" Kanda shouted.

Lavi stood up as he saw a shiny penny on the floor behind Allen. "Ooh, a penny! And it's so shiny…This must be my lucky day." Lavi got himself out of the bench and stood behind Allen. He bent himself down to reach for the penny.

"You are so girly, BA-KAN…"

Lavi got the penny but as his back was bent midway, he lost his balance and he fell on Allen.

"…-DA…whoa!" Allen fell forward and his lips met with Kanda's. Their eyes widened in surprise. The two exorcists were both in extreme shock that their brains weren't processing what was happening at that very moment, so they stayed like that for a while. Lenalee witnessed this marvelous event and she could hear her inner fan-girl self screaming 'Kyaah! Kyaah!' She blushed at the sight of the two exorcists in front of her. She did not even bother separating them. Lavi, on the other hand, slowly got up, raising the penny in his hand.

"Look at what I found!" he proudly said as he raised the shiny penny, but he then noticed the silence among his companions and that was when he became aware of the awkward phenomenon happening between the two bickering exorcists. Lavi gasped.

Allen and Kanda instantly came back to their senses and quickly pushed each other away. Both fell on the floor and they vigorously wiped their lips with the sleeve of their uniforms.

"Shit…"Kanda swore under the sleeve of his uniform. "I can't believe I had given my first to this…Moyashi!"

Allen, on the other hand, was feeling depressed. "I feel so violated…"

"Che! You're the one to talk. You should be thankful Moyashi! I wasn't planning on kissing anyone in my entire life. Even if it was an accident…"

"Are you saying that I should be gay, you conceited jerk?!" Allen yelled at the older exorcist.

"Che…"

"Why you…" Allen tackled Kanda and the two began to wrestle. They started kicking and throwing punches at each other. Random things were flying around the cafeteria. Even without the use of their innocence, the damages were still pretty much severe and…expensive.

Lenalee sighed. "Well, I better list the damages down for Komui nii-san to put on their tabs…" She got a pen and a piece of paper and began listing down the damages. A sound of crashing glass resounded from the brawling of the two exorcists. "Ouch…that sounded expensive. Well, that's another one," Lenalee said as she wrote on the piece of paper.

Lavi, on the other hand, was intrigued by his shiny new penny….


	4. All Hell Breaks Lose

Konichiwa! **Innocent-illusory** here! Thank you to all the people who have reviewed so far. Please enjoy this next chapter...

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_**Chapter 4: All Hell Breaks Lose**_

Tomorrow came, the day Allen Walker deplored about. The four equipment type exorcists: Kanda, Lavi, Lenalee and Miranda were called into Komui's office to retrieve their weapons. Allen Walker was listening behind the door of Komui's office.

In the office, the four exorcists conversed with each other while waiting for their Supervisor's arrival.

"Miranda-san, it's been a while," Lenalee said to the older woman beside her.

"Yes, it's been a while Lenalee-chan…we haven't seen each other much around headquarters lately," Miranda said with her hush voice.

Miranda Lotto lacked self-confidence but it was worse before she joined the Order. She was shy around people but despite of her timid personality she was quite updated with the rumors that circulated around the Order.

"Neh, Lenalee-chan…"Miranda wanted to bring something up to Lenalee but was hesitant to.

"Hmm, Miranda-san...?"

"Nevermind…it's just a trivial question," said Miranda.

"No, I don't mind at all Miranda-san," Lenalee said. "Ask me. I'm getting curious."

"Ano…Lenalee-chan, is it true about you and Allen-kun…"Miranda trailed off her question.

"What about me and Allen-kun?" Lenalee cocked a questioning eyebrow at the older woman.

"I heard that you two are…" Miranda paused to find the right words to describe what she was about to say next. "…in a _serious_ relationship," she finally said as her cheeks turned pink with delight.

"Ehhh?!" Lenalee yelled. Lenalee herself was blushing profusely.

At that moment, the two male exorcists, Kanda and Lavi turned to the two girls to see what was going on.

"What?! Me? A relationship with…Allen-kun?!" Lenalee placed her hands on her burning cheeks.

Then, eyes behind a pair of rectangular spectacles automatically opened as if electrocuted by a thousand volts of electricity. Komui quickly woke up from his deep slumber on the floor behind his office desk when he heard her beloved sister having a…relationship?! This is an outrage!! He quickly bolted upright and lunged to hug his little sister.

"Lenalee-chan! Don't leave me…" the touchy supervisor sobbed as he tightly hugged his little sister. "I won't let anyone take you away from me! Yada, yada, YADA!!" He shook his head as he buried his face on Lenalee's shoulder.

"You were sleeping behind the desk all this time!!" Lavi exclaimed.

Komui dangerously glared at the bookman. This sent shivers down the exorcist's spine. Nobody butts in Komui's moment with his dear little sister.

"Lenalee, promise you won't leave nii-san!" Komui continued to frantically sob.

Lenalee sighed. She patted her brother's back and said, "Hai, hai, nii-san. I won't leave you. And I am not having a relationship with Allen to make that matter clear."

"Hey, Komui! Can you just give us our weapons back so we can go?" Kanda said. He had enough of Komui's display of over protectiveness with his sister.

Komui sighed. There was no refusing to this impatient samurai's request. He got up and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He cleared his throat and finally started. "Your innocence are already in a stable condition. I have already embedded them in your weapons." Komui pulled a trolley which held the weapons of the four exorcists from behind the table.

The four exorcists got their weapons. Kanda brandished his sword, Lavi tossed his little hammer, Lenalee wore her boots and Miranda wore her watch. They were all very satisfied to have their weapons back.

Behind the office door, Allen Walker sighed in relief. "It seems everything is fine."

"Okay, now try to activate your innocence. Kanda, you go first." Komui directed at the young samurai.

"Che…" Kanda firmly held his sword. "Innocence, hatsudou!"

There was a long pause. Kanda commanded again. "Innocence, hatsudou!"

Nothing was happening. This pissed off Kanda. "Komui! What the fuck is wrong with Mugen?!" he growled at the supervisor.

"Eh?! Well, that can't be right…" Komui was intrigued by the unusual phenomenon.

All four exorcists tried to activate their innocence but they were all unsuccessful.

"Onii-san, how come..?" Lenalee anxiously asked her brother.

"This isn't suppose to happen," Komui said as he glanced at the data papers in his hands. "According to the data papers, your innocence are completely stable and are capable of being invoked…"

"Stop screwin' around, Komui!" Kanda yelled at the scientist.

Komui thought about this strange phenomenon. There was definitely nothing wrong with how he embedded the innocence in their weapons. And the computations are perfectly correct even up to the last decimal place. He thought of the possible causes of this strange phenomenon and he couldn't think of any, unless…Komui snapped his fingers as he struck an idea, an idea that even an elementary student can come up with. A paradoxical idea, for it is quite absurd but is crazy enough to work. It won't hurt to try.

"Kanda," Komui said with authority. "Give your sword to Lenalee."

"What?!" Kanda was surprised at the Supervisor's request. Kanda held his sword even tighter. "Hell, no!"

But Komui quickly grabbed his sword and handed it to Lenalee. "No questions ask…." Komui snapped at the now scowling exorcist. Lenalee's eyes widened as she received the sharp blade, a weapon she has never held before. Komui then swapped Lavi's small hammer with Miranda's watch. Both exorcists were surprised as well. Now all was left was Lenalee's shoes and Kanda Yuu. Komui held up Lenalee's shoes in front of the young samurai.

"Hell, no!" Kanda yelled at the mad scientist. "There's no way in hell I would wear those!"

"Kanda, I am your Supervisor and my orders are to be followed," Komui said with an authority that supervisors possessed.

"Che…" Kanda ignored him. He wasn't going to wear those girly shoes. And those shoes are obviously way too small for him.

"No fair, Yuu-chan!" said Lavi. "We got our weapons swapped. You should have your swap too!"

"Honestly, Kanda, I am hurt…" Lenalee said to the scowling exorcist.

"Shut up!" Kanda snapped. He had no choice. Whatever crazy idea that mad Komui has is surely not going to work anyway. "I'll do it…" he grumbled.

He grabbed the wretched shoes from Komui and put them on. Surprisingly, they did look small for him but when he put them on it was as if they automatically adjusted themselves to fit his feet perfectly.

"Okay, activate them," Komui said.

"What?!" The four exorcists shouted in unison.

"You heard what I said."

All four exorcists hesitated. There's definitely something wrong with the Supervisor. Komui sensed their hesitance and glared at the four exorcists. "You dare defy me?!" A threatening aura loomed over Komui which made the hair at the back of their necks stand.

"Innocence, hatsudou!" Lenalee, Lavi and Miranda invoked their innocence in unison in the same way as how they usually invoked their original weapons. And unexpectedly, the weapons they held reacted to their invocation. All three exorcists gasped. Kanda saw this and he was dumbfounded. His hesitation deepened even further.

"Kanda, activate." Komui demanded.

"What the hell's happening here?!" Kanda yelled at the scientist in front of him. "And why's my sword responding to her?!" He pointed at Lenalee, who was currently dumbstruck at the situation.

"Kanda, just activate..."

"Like I…"

"Just activate, DAMMIT!!" Komui finally lost his temper with the young samurai.

"Che…" Kanda finally gave in. He braced himself and finally said, "Innocence, hatsudou!"

At Kanda's words, the shoes automatically whipped themselves into boots. The power surge tore Kanda's pants above knee-level. The boots fit snuggly around Kanda's legs and there were half-inch heels at the soles of the boots. The boots did not look gay on Kanda because the heels aren't as high as what Lenalee used to wear ("Dammit!" Lavi snapped his fingers. He really wanted to see this.). Lenalee was shocked. She didn't know that her dark boots was capable of a feat such as this. She found pride in her original weapon.

Lavi whistled. "Nice legs, Yuu-chan!"

"Shut up!" Kanda kicked Lavi hard and sent him flying across the room. "Hmm…I think I can get used to this." Kanda smirked.

"Interesting…It seems that your innocence have been placed in wrong weapons. " Komui said blatantly as he rubbed his chin.

"Don't say that as if it's nothing, you bastard!" Kanda said. "This is your entire fault."

Allen Walker did not like what he was hearing from behind the door. Something DID go terribly wrong. He gulped.

"S-So, does this mean will be like this forever?" Miranda said. She yelped at the idea.

Lavi dangled the watch in his possession. "This…I can't hit Akuma with this!!" Lavi sobbed. "I want my hammer…"

Lenalee stared at the blade in her hands. "Errr…I don't know how to use a sword."

"Che…" Kanda decided not to voice out his complain for it would have to contain some vulgarity.

"Okay, settle down." Komui tried to calm the four anxious exorcists. "Of course, you won't be like this forever. We can of course place your innocence back to their original weapons but…"

"But what?!" the four exorcists said in unison.

"Since your innocence are already active we need to at least lower down their current activity level. Switching them back right now in their highly active state would be highly dangerous and volatile. Your innocence's activity level will drop to a level which is safe to do the changing process in about…one week's time."

"One week?!" the four exorcists exclaimed in unison.

"Yes, so basically you're stuck like this for one week…" Komui pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

The four exorcists were speechless, shocked by the sudden revelation. Then, Kanda spoke, "You're the Science Department! How could you make such a stupid mistake?!"

Komui shrugged. "I just followed what was in the containers from Reever-san." Komui pointed at the containers with the four exorcists' names at the end of the room. "So, apparently I have to scold Reever-san for this whole mix-up." Komui went to the phone to call Reever.

"Hello, Reever-san! How are you?" Komui happily greeted the other scientist. "OMG, that is so awesome..."

"Err…what happened to the scolding?" Lavi whispered to his other companions. The others were wondering the same thing.

Komui cleared his throat. "Anyway, about the four containers you sent me. You did not put them in the right order…"

Komui paused, for the man on other side of the line was talking.

"So you are certain they were in the right order," Komui said. "But you sent them here by who..?"

Then there was a brief silence in the office as the man on other line spoke.

"Oh, Allen Walker, right…Thank you Reever-san." Komui hang up the phone. He turned to face the four exorcists and said, "It's Allen's fault..."

The four exorcists were completely stunned and at the same time were boiling up with rage.

"Oh, shit!" Allen swore as he heard his name from behind the door. "Did they find out about me?" Then, thundering footsteps came from behind the door. They became louder and louder as they came nearer and nearer. Allen got his answer right there.

The office door slammed open and Allen stumbled on the floor. He looked up and saw four terrifying exorcists towering over him. "Hey, guys…" he smiled waveringly. He was dead alright. He can now picture his tombstone right now. If he did die right now he wanted his grave to be beside his foster father's: Mana Walker.

"Moyashi…" Kanda approached the vulnerable boy on the floor.

"Kanda…hi! I love your boots by the way!" Allen moved farther away from the approaching predator.

"You are so dead right now!" Kanda motioned to attack the white-haired exorcist. Allen yelped. He quickly dodged Kanda and darted through the corridor.

"I'm SOOORRRYYYY!!" Allen screamed as the four raging exorcists chased after him.


	5. The Sorry Mission

Konichiwa minna-san! **Innocent-illusory** here. Actually just one of us, Therese-chan. Roie-kun is sick and I haven't been able to chat with him lately, so it took a bit longer to update the story. GOMEN NASAI...but don't fret, it's a **DOUBLE CHAPTER UPDATE!** We are very much open to your ideas if you have any to improve the story. Don't be shy or scared to PM us; we won't eat you! Thank you to Ai Minamoto for the correction in chapter 4! Enjoy these two chapters!

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**Chapter 5: The Sorry Mission**

The next day, Allen Walker was being held captive by the four revenge-seeking exorcists in the corner of the cafeteria. His hands were bounded tightly behind his back and he was put to sit on a wooden stool. The four exorcists had to resort to tying him up because Allen Walker can be very shrewd. He managed to dodge them several times, but this time the tables have turned and Allen Walker was now in a bad predicament.

"No, please…no…have mercy on me!" Allen Walker pleaded for his life.

"Geez, Allen. You sound as if we're gonna rape you." Lavi said. "We're just going to bully you for a while."

Allen gulped.

"Neh, Allen-kun…" Lenalee smiled at the cursed boy. Allen knew that there was mischief hidden behind Lenalee's pretty smile. For all he knew, that girl might be listing ways on how to torture him in her head. "It'll be fine. It'll only last for a few minutes…"

"So much for comforting words…" Allen thought.

"So what are we going to do with, Allen-kun?" Lavi turned to Kanda for some inspiration. Kanda was leaning on the wall with his arms folded but as he saw Lavi's grin of mischief, he hoisted himself from the wall and approached their prey.

"Che…" Kanda started to unfasten a few buttons of his uniform and then moved to unbuckle his belt. Allen's eyes widened and he let out a yelp in fear. "Oh, my god! I'm gonna get raped!!" Allen screamed in his head.

The three other exorcists gasped at the scene. They were shocked by the anti-social samurai's aggressive behavior towards the younger exorcist. This was going way too far. Lavi finally got over the shock and shouted, "W-wait Kanda, STOP!" The samurai paused and faced him with a questioning look. "Geez, I didn't know you were into BDSM _(refer to author's note below)_!" Lavi continued.

"What are you talking about, Rabbit?" Kanda cocked an eyebrow at the anxious bookman. "I was just adjusting my belt."

The three exorcists sighed in relief. They didn't have the heart to see something THAT explicit. Allen Walker was relieved. Then, a powerful hand fisted Allen's shirt collar and lifted him up. "Don't get all relaxed yet." Kanda glared at the victim in his clutches. "Since I'm not creative enough to think of a unique punishment, I'm just gonna have to do it old school and beat the crap out of you, Moyashi!"

Allen gulped. There was no escaping this time. Just then a golden blur appeared beside Allen. It was Timcanpy. "I'm saved!" Allen mentally celebrated.

"Ara…it's Timcanpy," Miranda said.

"Che…" Kanda is pissed at the little golem for ruining his moment. "What does he want?"

Timcanpy nibbled at the rope that secured Allen's hands behind his back. Allen got his hands free and he held Kanda's fisted hand. "Ano…Tim says that he has a message. So, can you please let go of me for a while?"

"Che…You're lucky that golem of yours showed up, Moyashi!" Kanda hissed at Allen. He dropped the cursed boy on the floor.

"Oww…" Allen rubbed the sore spot where he landed. Still seated on the floor, Allen coaxed his little golden friend to come to him. Timcanpy did so and rested on the cursed boy's head. As Timcanpy got comfortable he played a voice message from their supervisor, Komui.

"Exorcists, I have a new mission for you. Details of the mission will be explained here in my office; report immediately." The voice message ended.

The five exorcists quickly headed for Komui's office. When they arrived, they were greeted by a serious supervisor reading several sheets of paper on a clipboard. The supervisor looked up and got straight to the point.

"Good morning, exorcists. There have been reports about a strange phenomenon happening in two villages down in the south." Komui handed out the folders for the mission briefing to the five exorcists.

"The Twin Villages: Darth and Belar—they are called so because originally they were one village, but a massive earthquake caused the separation of the land they stood on. The village elders did not want their people's unity to shatter because of the village's geographical separation so, they called the two newly formed villages as 'The Twin Villages' to sustain the unity in the once single village. The two villages are separated by a wide river but are connected by a bridge that runs across it."

"Apparently, The Twin Villages: Darth and Belar are experiencing an unusual cycle of day and night. The village of Darth has been experiencing twenty-four hours of day and the village of Belar has been experiencing twenty-four hours of night for the past few months. But then in the village of Darth, though it's day, there's no sun and in the village of Belar, though it's night, there's no moon."

The five exorcists were indeed perplexed by the strange phenomenon.

Komui continued. "This means that The Twin Villages are isolated from the world outside. It is certain that innocence is causing this. Also, there have been sightings of Akuma around those parts, meaning they're also after the innocence present there"

Komui paused to let the five exorcists process the information he had just relayed to them.

He once again spoke. "You're mission is to retrieve the innocence and to stop the Akuma activity in The Twin Villages: Darth and Belar. Understood?"

"Hai," the five exorcists said in unison.

"Allen, Kanda and Lenalee will be staying in the village of Darth and Lavi and Miranda will be staying in the village of Belar. I advice you to be careful when socializing with the people in the villages, they are very moody because of the factors caused by this strange phenomenon. You're departure will be by tomorrow afternoon. Prepare yourselves well."

The five exorcists accepted the mission but then an obvious concern came up.

"But Onii-san…our weapons are all wrong. We don't know how to use them," Lenalee said to her brother.

"Hmm…you're right, Lenalee," Komui said nonchalantly.

"You didn't even think about that?!" Lavi said to the supervisor in front of them.

"Che…" Kanda was of course pissed but right now he didn't give a damn about anything except getting through with this.

"Well, didn't I tell you to prepare yourselves well? That includes you being familiar with your temporary weapons, "Komui said. "I'm sure you'll quickly get the hang of them since you're all good friends with each other. Spend your remaining time before tomorrow to familiarize with your new weapons and to teach one another." Komui grinned at the four equipment-type exorcists.

Kanda and Lenalee looked at one another. Miranda and Lavi did the same. Then all four exorcists glared at Allen who was the root cause of their unfortunate predicament.

"I'm sorry?" Allen gulped.

This was going to be one tough week.

* * *

_Author's Note:_

BDSM- B & D stands for Bondage and Discipline (i think these two are self explanatory) and S & M stands for sadism and masochism or combined as SadoMasochism. Sadism is finding pleasure in _inflicting pain_ and Masochism is finding pleasure _in pain. _

I don't want to go into the details anymore...

The Twin Villages: Darth and Belar are purely made up.


	6. Preparing for Departure

**Chapter 6: Preparing for Departure**

With hours left before their departure, the four equipment-type exorcists spent their remaining time getting used to their temporary weapons. Kanda and Lenalee were practicing in the Order's outdoor garden while Lavi and Miranda were practicing in one of the training rooms inside the building.

"Raise the sword higher." Kanda instructed Lenalee. The female exorcist was tense, for she was completely new with the blade in her hands and her mentor was very strict. "Don't put too much power on your right hand. This causes the orbit of the sword to deviate."

Lenalee has been swinging her sword up and down for almost two and a half hours. Her arms were getting numb and it seems that the samurai exorcist was not getting any satisfaction from her efforts.

"Bend your knees," said Kanda. "Loosen up a bit. You're too tense."

"Whose fault do you think it is, dammit?!" Lenalee retorted. Lenalee yelped as she realized her sudden slip of the tongue. She did not mean to speak what was in her mind at that moment. The tension and fatigue was already affecting her disposition. Her mentor was surely to be upset.

Kanda cocked an eyebrow at the female exorcist. It was obvious that the girl in front of him was very tired and the weariness was causing her mood swings.

"I'm sorry…" Lenalee apologized to her mentor.

Kanda let out a sigh and decided to give some sympathy to the weary exorcist. He placed a hand on the girl's sword-gripping hands and gently lowered her hold. "That's enough. Let's take a break for a while."

At Kanda's words, Lenalee's grip loosened. The blade fell and clanged on the garden floor. Her weary knees instantly gave out but Kanda caught her just in time before she met the floor. "Oi! Get a hold of yourself, "Kanda said to the girl in his support.

"I'm sorry, Kanda. It's actually taking me a lot of time to get used to this sword," Lenalee wearily said to her mentor. Lenalee hoisted herself up from the samurai's support and gently sat down on the garden floor. Kanda joined her.

"I can't blame you," Kanda said to the girl beside him. "The art of the sword cannot be mastered in just a couple of hours…"

"True." Lenalee agreed with the exorcist. "But to be honest Kanda, I thought that handling the sword was going to be a bit easy since I have always seen you fight ever since we were young," Lenalee said as she twirled a blade of grass with her finger.

"Che…but my skills took years of training," Kanda said.

"I think that applies to everyone here in the Order." Lenalee beamed at Kanda.

The two exorcists rested for a few minutes. Then, Lenalee suddenly grabbed the samurai's arm and hoisted him up.

"What the..?" The sudden action caught Kanda by surprise.

"Yuu-chan, now it's my turn to be teacher," Lenalee said teasingly to the boy next to her. "You promised that we'd take turns…"

A vein popped out of the samurai's temple. "There they go again with my first name. How many times have I told them not to use my first name?! Dammit!" Kanda thought.

"Che…"

Lenalee blew her cheeks and scowled at the samurai as she pinched his cheeks. "Don't you dare 'che' on me, Kanda Yuu! I won't go easy on you either."

Kanda turned to face Lenalee and he could've sworn he saw her lips form a devious smirk.

Meanwhile, in one of the Order's training room, Lavi was learning how to manipulate time with Miranda as his mentor. Miranda reasoned that it was more tedious to master controlling time than to master hitting things with a giant hammer. Lavi was reluctant but in the end he agreed to be student first because the timid exorcist did have a point. Controlling time required a lot of concentration, patience and energy, unlike with hitting things where you just have to make sure that you hit your enemies and not your comrades (or yourself).

"Lavi-kun, try isolating this room from the rest of the building." Miranda instructed Lavi. She got a rubber ball and showed it to Lavi. "Now, I'm going to throw this ball in the middle of the room and I want you to control its time at my command. Concentrate hard, Lavi."

"Hai," Lavi said.

Allen Walker had finished packing his things and he decided to check on the four exorcists. He went out to the garden to see the first pair. Allen didn't want to disturb them so he decided to sit under a tree near their training area.

"Now, Kanda, it's easy to use Dark Boots to attack enemies with big blows but it's rather difficult to control their power and speed to normal," Lenalee said. "You need to learn how to control them at a normal pace so you won't end up kicking and flying in random directions."

"Now, Kanda activate." Lenalee instructed the young samurai.

Kanda was still reluctant to invoke the boots. But then it wouldn't be fair for the female exorcist who had endured his strict session with her. The young samurai let out a sigh. He braced himself and activated his innocence. "Innocence, hatsudou!"

The boots whipped themselves on Kanda's legs as they tore the parts of his pants below his knees in their invocation. He could never get used to this. After this week he would have to end up with a closet full of torn pants.

"Now, jump." Lenalee instructed the samurai.

"Che…" Kanda bent his knees and sprung himself up.

Now, Kanda Yuu was up in the air. He had to admit that it was quite exhilarating to be this high up. Kanda had no problems with going up; however, with going down he met a problem with gravity. Gravity started pulling him down towards the ground. He was so high up in the air that he was sure to make some serious damage when he lands back on the ground.

"Shit! Where the hell are the damn breaks in this thing?!" Kanda yelled as he was heading closer towards the ground.

Allen Walker was a spectator of Kanda Yuu's flight towards the sky. His head followed Kanda's figure as he went higher and higher and now lower and lower and….closer?

"Oh, shit!!" Allen's eyes widened as the falling Kanda was heading towards him. It was too late for the cursed boy.

"Moyaaaashiiiiii!!" Kanda screamed.

"Aaaagggghhhh!!" Allen screamed with the falling samurai.

"Oh, my god! I can't watch this..." Lenalee covered her eyes. She heard the two unfortunate exorcists collide with their ear-splitting screams. There was the sound of falling tree branches and a few broken bones. Finally, Lenalee opened her eyes to see the damage but she did not expect what she was seeing.

"What the fuuuuuuck!!" Kanda screamed as he was once again falling towards the ground.

"Aaaagggghhhh, déjà vu!!" Allen screamed.

The two exorcists collided again for the second time.

"Miranda!! I'm actually doing it!" Lavi happily announced to his mentor. When Miranda threw the ball at the center of the room, Lavi was able to freeze it in midair and then he was able to reverse it's time back to Miranda's possession.

"Now, Lavi do it one more time, forward." Miranda instructed again.

Lavi manipulated the ball's time until it was back in midair at the center of the room.

"Reverse"

Then Lavi made the ball go back to Miranda's possession.

"Fo-…" Miranda stopped.

"What's wrong?" Lavi asked.

"Lavi-kun, did you here someone scream just now?"

"Hmm…I didn't hear anything. It's probably just the wind." Lavi shrugged.

This went on for four consecutive times so you could probably imagine what was going on outside…

Finally, Lavi and Miranda decided to take a break for a while. "Lavi-kun, you did a good job. Let's take a break."

"Hai." Lavi beamed at his timid mentor.

Then the door slammed open, almost breaking off its hinges. The disheveled appearances of Kanda and Allen emerged from the door. Kanda had his hair down with leaves clinging on to it, his pants torn, and his shirt open. Allen had his once snow white hair colored brown with dirt, his left glove was torn to shreds and his shirt was beyond repair. Both were covered in bruises and dirt. Lenalee accompanied the two unfortunate exorcists as they met up with the cause of their ill-fated episode.

"Oh, my god! What happened to you guys?" Lavi anxiously asked the two injured exorcists, not knowing that he was the cause of their trouble.

An ominous aura loomed over the two disheveled exorcists as they slowly approached the damning Rabbit.

Miranda realized what had possibly happened and whispered to Lavi, "Lavi-kun, I think you should say sorry to them."

"Why should I say sorry to them?!" Lavi said out loud.

"Shhh…" Miranda pulled Lavi closer to her. "Because…" Miranda whispered about the possible episode that might have occurred between the two exorcists and how Lavi wasn't able to isolate the time control in the room.

"Ohh…" This was all Lavi could say after hearing about the two exorcists' ordeal. Now he was faced with two raging exorcists who were about to devour him whole.

"Moyashi…what do you think about Rabbit stew?" Kanda said to the exorcist beside him.

"That would be great Kanda. I haven't eaten anything decent since Jerry left…" Allen said.

"Errr…hi guys! You look sexy today…" Lavi said. "Doh! What am I thinking?! I'm in deep shit and all I can say to my possible killers is: 'You look sexy'?!" Lavi mentally slapped himself.

Of course this did nothing to improve the mood of the two exorcists. They lunged to strangle their prey but Lavi was able to dodge them and run outside the room. "I'm SOOORRRRYYY!!" Lavi screamed as he ran towards the library to lock himself in.

The day of their departure came. The five exorcists were seen off by their supervisor as they were about to set off for their trip.

"Exorcists please take care," Komui said to the five exorcists.

"Hai." The five exorcists assured their supervisor with their safety

"You will embark a ship to the Village of Sinlu, a neighboring village. After you disembark, from there you will walk a few miles to the Village of Darth. You will know what to do once you arrive there." Komui voiced out his final instructions.

The exorcists were about to leave when the Supervisor remembered one last thing…

"Oh, yes I almost forgot. Kanda…" the Supervisor called for the young samurai.

"What?"

"Here's your new uniform." Komui handed him his folded new clothes.

"What's with the new uniform?" Kanda questioned as he received his new clothes from the supervisor.

"Well, we can't have you ripping your pants every time you invoke dark boots. That's why Lenalee never wears pants."

Kanda lifted his uniform and he did not like what he was seeing. His new uniform comprised of the same Black Order jacket but with a skirt similar to what one would see in Lenalee's closet. The four other exorcists let out stifle fits of laughter. They wanted to laugh so hard but they knew that the ill-tempered exorcist would definitely skewer them when he gets his sword back.

A vein popped out of Kanda's temple and he glared even more menacingly at the Supervisor. "This…" He raised the wretched uniform in his hands. "What the fuck is this?!"

Kanda threw the cursed pieces of cloth on Komui's face.

"Kanda calm down. I'm serious with this," Komui said to the scowling exorcist. He got the uniform and placed it back in the samurai's hands.

"Hell no! I am definitely not wearing this!" Kanda shouted at the idiotic Supervisor. "Why does it have to be so damn short? It's not like you got this out from Lenalee's closet…"

Komui cleared his throat and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. A weird silence settled in as Kanda finished his last statement.

"Oh, no you did not…you did not!" Kanda was ready to pummel Komui in front of him. He didn't care anymore if he was the supervisor or not, he was the annoying, grinning, four-eyed bastard with a freaky sister-complex.

Komui began sweating profusely. "Okay, okay Kanda…I swear you won't be put to wear that so just calm down but you can't wear pants either."

"If that's the case, then get your ass going and make something else!" Kanda growled at Komui.

"Hai," Komui said as he rushed back into the building.

The four other exorcists sighed. The trip might be a little delayed.


	7. Hard Alcohol

Konichiwa! Chapter 7 is here but it's a bit so-so and random! But still enjoyed writing it. Anyway, thank you for all the reviews and please R & R again. Currently working on Chapter 8 so I might be able to upload it after 24 hours. It gets better then... Hope you enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Hard Alcohol**

The five exorcists set off to the village of Sinlu. Their departure was a little delayed because of a grouchy exorcist who refused to embark unless he got his new uniform remodeled.

Kanda of course got his way but he still didn't like his new uniform. His present uniform was modeled after his long ankle-length Black Order coat which he usually had pants underneath but instead of pants he was put to wear shorts and lengthy slits ran along the sides of his coat. Talk about showing skin, but Kanda preferred this than wearing one of Lenalee's skirts.

"It's just one week…one FRICKIN' long week!" Kanda grumbled to himself.

"We're almost there," Miranda said to her fellow exorcists as she pointed towards a village in sight.

Minutes after, the five exorcists finally got ashore the Village of Sinlu. They disembarked on the pier, carrying their luggage. The five exorcists were a bit weary from the trip so they rested in a nearby waiting shed. Then, they started discussing on how they would go about their mission.

"So, how do we get there?" Lavi asked an obvious question.

"Onii-san said that we would have to walk from here to the Village of Darth," said Lenalee.

"So which way is it?"

Allen Walker got a map from his pocket. "Ano…" Allen tried reading the map, but he couldn't comprehend all the colorful dots and squiggly lines. His eyebrows furrowed in obscurity. He rotated the map, thinking that it might be upside down, but it still didn't do much to his understanding.

"Give me that." The grouchy samurai grabbed the map from the cursed boy beside him. He took a look at it and figured it out in just a few seconds. "The Village of Darth is that way." Kanda pointed at the east.

An old sailor happened to pass by and overheard the five exorcists. "Arrgh..me mates!" He gave a toothy grin to the five exorcists; or rather not a completely toothy one for the old sailor had some of his teeth knocked out. The old sailor was around his late fifties. He smelled of both rum and fish. He wore a striped bandana and an eye patch on his left eye. "I happen to hear you folks talkin' bout one of them Twin Villages."

"Hai," Allen said to the old sailor "Ojisan, do you know anything about them?"

"Aye!" the sailor said. "Them villages used to be frequent traders with our village here. Lotsa merchants from them villages came here to sell produce and rare items but few months ago, they stopped visitin' here. Our people tried visitin' there but they said they kept on gettin' lost somewhere else or they ended up back here in the village."

It was no doubt that the innocence was isolating the village from contact with outsiders.

"Ojisan, thank you for the information." Allen beamed at the old sailor.

"If you guys are headin' there, ya'll be careful," the old sailor said to the five exorcists. He placed a hand on Lavi's shoulder. "It was nice meetin' ya brother."

"Brother?" Lavi raised an eyebrow at the old sailor. The old sailor lifted a finger gesturing to his left eye patch and the realization hit Lavi. Tears started forming in the sides of Lavi's eyes and soon he was starting to cry with tears of joy. Lavi wiped his tears with the sleeve of his uniform.

"Lavi, why are you crying?" Lenalee asked the exorcist as she patted his back.

"I'm so happy. Nobody made me his brother before." Lavi sniffed. "All I had was that stupid Panda and even Yuu-chan doesn't treat me as one even though we've been through a lot of good and bad times together."

"Che…" Kanda folded his arms. "I'd rather go to hell than be related to you, Rabbit!"

"There, there… now brother, don't cry." The old sailor placed a hand on the exorcist's head. "Now cheer up and have here some booze!" The sailor handed Lavi a dusty bottle of booze. Good thing that Lavi was of legal age or the old man would be committing some serious offense. Lavi grabbed the bottle and drank all its contents in one gulp. The bottle was enough to get him all tipsy. Lavi hiccupped and his head fell backwards as he lost his consciousness. That must have been some pretty strong booze.

"Lavi!" Lenalee exclaimed as the exorcist beside her lost consciousness. "Get a hold of yourself!" She shook the drunken exorcist beside her. A few minutes later, the red-haired exorcist quickly bolted upright raising one straight finger and then his body went all wobbly and then the boy started talking about random crap.

"Brother…" Lavi draped a wobbly arm on the old sailor's soldier. Lavi put his weight on the sailor so the pair was standing crookedly. "Tha guy over therrr…" Lavi pointed a bent finger towards Kanda. "I asked him if he was gaaay…"

The other exorcists and the old sailor turned their heads to look at the samurai exorcist. A vein popped out of the teen's temple.

"But naahw…he din't answer. He just beat the crap outta meh! But it was hot…" Lavi hiccupped. The other exorcists gasped and Kanda clenched his fist. "Calm down, Kanda, calm down. That drunken Rabbit is not worth beating up right now," Kanda thought to himself.

"And that guy keeps on scowling, he's like pissed at…everything!" Lavi said in his drunken state. "But you know what brother…" Lavi lowered his voice down but still audible enough for the other exorcists to hear. "I think he's just sexually frustrated…"

"Oh, that's it!" Kanda was ready to beat up Lavi for good.

"See, brother…I told you so," Lavi hiccupped.

"Kanda, stop!" Allen pushed him backwards.

Lenalee stood up and approached the two "brothers". "Ojisan, sorry about our friend here. I think that booze was a little too much for him…"

"Well, normal folks can't handle our booze," the sailor said proudly.

The female exorcist grabbed the drunken boy's arm and hoisted him up from the old sailor. "Come on Lavi, it's time to go…"

"What? Aww…but I have so much stuff to share bout Yuu-chan!"

"I think Yuu-chan has heard enough, Lavi."

"Lenalee…" Lavi lost his balance in his drunken state and smothered over Lenalee. Lenalee yelped in surprise.

"Lavi, get up!" Allen yelled at the bookman as he and the other two exorcists struggled to pull the drunken bookman up from the female exorcist.

"Lenalee…" Lavi looked up at Lenalee with his droopy eyes. Lenalee felt her face heat up. "You're sooo soft…"

SMACK!!

Lavi finally opened his eyes, but his vision was all blurry. His head was hurting like hell from a major hangover. He also felt a piercing sensation in his left cheek, though he wondered how he got that. A red hand mark was very visible in the teen's cheek; the slap that caused that mark might have knocked him out. He was moving, but he wasn't walking. His feet were limply dragging on the ground. Lavi groaned as his senses gradually came back.

"You're awake."

Lavi slowly turned his head to see Allen. Lavi had one arm around Allen's neck as the boy was supporting his limp body. The five exorcists were now walking down the road to the Village of Darth.

"What happened?" Lavi asked groggily.

"You got drunk." Kanda snapped at the now sober exorcist.

"Oh…" Lavi said. Then, Lavi turned to Lenalee. The girl snapped her head away from the bookman. He thought he just heard her call him a 'pervert'. "I must have done something bad to her," the young bookman thought.

"Geez, Lavi! I can't believe you could just casually drink some booze from some total stranger!" Allen said to the exorcist at his side.

"Oh, come on Allen! He was a brother!" Lavi lifted his palm to gesture his point.

"Oh, shut up, Rabbit! You're a terrible drunkard!" Kanda growled at the exorcist.

The sober exorcist pouted.

"Errm…Lavi? Can you stand up now? My shoulders are getting numb…" Allen asked the red head,

"Oh, yeah…sorry about that, Allen." Lavi slowly hoisted himself up and got the sensation of his feet back and a few minutes later he was already on par with the other exorcists.

The five exorcists continued on with their journey. But unbeknownst to the five travelers, a dark shadow stalked them. A devilish grin formed on the dark Noah's handsome face. Tyki Mikk was leaning behind a distant tree away from the traveling exorcists. He was nonchalantly playing with a few of his Tease whilst his mind was deviously plotting a way to retrieve the innocence before the exorcists.

"Hmm...I see that all five of them are out this time," the dark Noah said to himself. "This will be very entertaining..." The Noah grinned. He summoned his flight of Tease around him and he instantly vanished.


	8. Illegitimate Child

Konichiwa! I had fun writing this chapter cause it was inspired by the little energetic five year-old drummer boy I play with in my Singing Lessons. He' s name is Akenji, he's a Japanese Descendant and he is sooo kawaii! I melt in his cute smile. sigh Anyway, please enjoy this next chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Illegitimate Child**

In the middle of the road, the five exorcists saw a little boy, around five years of age, chasing an eerily familiar black butterfly. Only when the company got closer to the little boy did they recognize it as one Tyki Mikk's pet Tease. This did not only mean the presence of the said Noah but that little kid was unknowingly playing with fire.

The five exorcists gasped and they quickly ran towards the kid. As the kid was chasing the black Tease, the kid tripped and landed on the flying insect beneath him.

"Oh no, we need to pick that kid up! That's dangerous!" Allen shouted.

The five exorcists quickly rushed towards the kid. But the kid slowly sat up and towered over the dead insect's corpse. The kid seemed unharmed. The five exorcists stopped in their tracks. The little kid loomed over the dead Tease and stared at it for a long while. Did they see a tear of remorse in the kid's eyes?

Suddenly, the kid's eyes glinted. He raised his fist and started pounding on the already dead Tease. Black liquid streaked on the kid's cheeks as he mercilessly crushed the dead insect with his small fist whilst giggling maniacally in fascination to the morbid sight—such sadistic behavior from a small deceivingly innocent child.

The five exorcists were appalled by the kid's behavior.

"Ano…" Allen approached the little kid who was rather enjoying himself. "A-are you okay?"

The little kid stopped beating the dead Tease and faced the white haired exorcist. The child had soft baby blue hair. Its color was so light that with just a little more tint would make it as white as Allen's own hair. He had big, honest gray eyes and a cute little nose. Yet his delicate features were tarnished by black smudges on his face. The kid was very adorable but frighteningly ironic. The boy was wearing a dirty shirt that hung loosely below his knees. It had lengthy sleeves that were apparently too long for him to begin with and were ripped intentionally at the edges to level with his wrists. He wore loose pants and sneakers that were beyond repair. The little boy reminded Allen of himself before he met his foster father.

The little boy stared at Allen with his big gray eyes. The little boy yelped and backed away from the exorcist. Fear apparent in the little boy's big gray eyes.

"Tyki is here…" Kanda said as he heightened his senses. The other exorcists did the same as well as they searched around the vicinity but so far the dark Noah was nowhere in sight. Then, the exorcist turned their attention back to the little kid.

"Don't be scared. We won't hurt you…" Allen said to the little boy. Allen seemed to gain the trust of the little boy for the little boy's face started to relax.

"Neh, can we ask you what's your name?" Lenalee approached the exorcist and the little boy.

The little boy opened his mouth but there was no sound. Apparently, the boy was mouthing his name but his voice didn't come out.

"The boy can't talk," Kanda said. The little boy turned to the young samurai.

"Kanda!" Lenalee snapped at the exorcist.

"Oh, it's okay little guy. We won't ask you if you….ermm, don't want to tell us," Lavi said as he patted the little kid's head.

The little boy smiled at the exorcist but then he placed a finger on the ground and he started writing his name on the dirt. It was quite messy but it was readable enough for the five exorcists to understand.

"Lu-ci-an...Lucian!" Allen read out loud as the little boy finished writing his name. The boy beamed at the white-haired exorcist.

"So now, we're going to call you Lucy-chan!" Lavi announced. The little boy nodded in delight.

"Che..." Kanda hissed.

"Neh…Lucy-chan, where do you live?" Lenalee asked the little boy. The little boy pointed at the direction where the exorcists were heading.

"Do you happen to live in the Village of Darth?"

The boy nodded.

The five exorcists were pleased. "Neh…Lucy-chan, can you take us there?" Allen asked the little blue-haired boy.

The boy thought for a moment and then nodded.

"Yay! Now, we have our very own tour guide!" Lavi celebrated as he lifted the little boy and hoisted him up on his back. The little boy clapped his hands in delight.

"Kawaii!" Lenalee cooed over the pair.

"Che…oww!" Kanda yelped. Something or rather someone was pulling on his ponytail. It was the little blue-haired kid on Lavi's back. "Let go kid!" Kanda yelled at the boy. The boy was just as stubborn as his captive. The little boy shook his head as he refused to let go.

"Seems Lucy-chan is fond of you, Yuu-chan!" Lavi teased at the young samurai.

"Damn you Rabbit! Oww…" Kanda yelped as Lucy-chan tugged even harder on his ponytail. "Make that kid stop!"

"Lucy-chan, Yuu onii-san is getting mad. You better let go now," Lavi said gently to the little kid on his back. Lucy-chan was saddened. The little boy sniffed a tear.

"Don't cry, Lucy-chan," Lavi comforted the little boy. Then, Lucy suddenly jumped off from Lavi's back.

"Lucy!" Lavi shouted.

"Aaah! Ow…" Kanda yelled in pain. Lucy jumped of Lavi's back and clung on to the samurai's long ponytail like a monkey. Little Lucy thrust his weight side to side making him swing on the samurai's ponytail. The little boy giggled in delight. The other exorcists stifled their laughter. The young samurai was already pissed. A vein popped out of the teenager's temple.

"Aww...Lucy really likes you Kanda," Allen cooed at the scowling samurai.

"Moyashi! Get your illegitimate child off me...oww!" Kanda yelled. Truly, Lucy and Allen did have quite a resemblance. Little Lucy tugged even harder to indicate that he didn't want to let go.

"Kanda, just settle with little Lucy-chan for a while," Lenalee said to the grouchy exorcist. "You don't want our tour guide to cry now, do you?"

"Che…oww!" Kanda hissed. The kid was getting on his nerves. They were sure to get rid of him once they reached the village anyway. "Fine!" He finally agreed. "Damn kid…" Kanda grumbled to himself. Kanda hoisted the hair-swinging monkey up his back. Little Lucy was still holding on to the samurai's ponytail, but as the samurai lifted the boy into a piggy-back position, the little boy let go of his ponytail and wrapped his little arms around his neck. Kanda didn't know which was worse: the hair tugging or the hugging.

"Awww…" the four other exorcists cooed.

"Shut up!" Kanda snapped.

Finally, the five exorcists, with their tour guide, Lucy, have arrived at the entrance of the Village.

"We're finally here," Allen said to his companions.

In his own initiative, Lucy let go of the samurai and slid off his back.

Kanda approached the village entrance. He reached out to put his hand through the entrance first but then a trifle of static sparked as he did so. "Che…the barrier is present. But I think we can manage pass through without any real physical damage," he said.

"Okay, let's go!" Allen said.

"Ano…where's Lucy-chan?" Lenalee looked around for the blue-haired boy anxiously.

"There he is!" Miranda pointed beyond the entrance of the village. The little boy was jumping up and down and waving his hands up in the air, signaling the five exorcists to enter.

"That's weird," Allen said. "We didn't even notice him pass through…"

The five exorcists were indeed perplexed.

"Oh, let's just go. We can't keep Lucy-chan waiting," Lavi said to his companions. The other exorcists nodded in agreement. They walked towards the entrance and slipped pass through the barrier with sparks of static flying. The five exorcists have successfully arrived in the Village of Darth but little did they know that their arrival was already predetermined by an ominous being lurking in the dark.


	9. The Melancholy of Day

Konichiwa! Innocent-illusory here! This chapter is so different from the other chapters. You'll see why when you read it. It's the longest chapter so far and it's gonna be emo...it's all part of the plot. Thank you for all the reviews so far. Lucy-chan is so fun to write. Please R&R. We find inspiration in your words (how random they may be).

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**Chapter 9: The Melancholy of Day**

The five exorcists with Lucy-chan walked around the Village of Darth. The village was quite ordinary—sturdy brick buildings on the sides of the streets with bustling people coming in and out, stalls of fresh produce and other items stood in the alleys or along the road, happy children playing in the streets. The village was completely normal, but that became an understatement when Allen Walker looked at his pocket watch.

It was already the time of the day when the sun would usually set but the village was still as bright as day could be. The sun was nowhere to be seen in the sky. It was just like what their Supervisor described it to be.

"This is really strange," Allen said.

The company continued their journey towards the end of the village where the start of the bridge was located. A wide river ran underneath the bridge in between the two villages. In the distance, a seemingly infinite wall of night continued on the other side of a distinct boundary located in the middle of the bridge

Allen, Kanda and Lenalee accompanied their other two companions until they reached the boundary where day and night met in the middle of the bridge.

"Well, this is our stop here," Lavi said as he leaped to the dark side of the bridge.

"Thank you for accompanying us." Miranda bowed as she thanked the three exorcists standing at the bright side of the bridge.

"No problem, please take care," Lenalee bade to the two exorcists.

"If you guys find something, make sure to contact us," Allen said.

"Hai," Miranda and Lavi said in unison.

Little Lucy peeked from the back of Allen's legs. He was saddened to see the two exorcists go. He opened his mouth to say his goodbye but despite his effort his voice just wouldn't come out.

"Aww…don't be sad Lucy-chan. We'll come visit," Lavi said as he beamed at the little boy on the other side.

The little boy smiled and nodded his head.

The two exorcists waved their hands goodbye as they walked deeper into the night.

The remaining exorcists turned and walked back into the village of day. Little Lucy was still tagging along the three exorcists. Lucy held Allen's right hand as he covered his mouth with the loose sleeve of his other. Allen Walker looked down at the small boy beside him. The exorcist furrowed his eyebrows in worry for the little boy. It was getting late, even though the sky didn't show it. Surely the boy's parents would be very anxious by now.

Lenalee must have sensed this as well for she lowered herself on par with the little boy and asked, "Neh, Lucy-chan. How about we bring you back home? Where do you live?"

The little boy stared at Lenalee. Then, tears started to well up in the little boy's gray eyes. He opened his mouth to say something but his voice would not come out. Then, his tears started to stream down his tender face. He instantly wrapped his small arms around Allen's leg and sobbed in the cloth of the cursed boy's pants.

Allen felt sorry for the little boy. He gently patted the boy's head. "Lucy-chan, don't cry," the cursed boy said. As the exorcist gently comforted him, the little boy's sorrowful sobs slowly turned into faint hiccups.

Allen Walker kneeled on one knee to be on level with the small boy. The exorcist placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. The little boy was vigorously wiping his tears away with the dirty sleeves of his loose shirt. "Lucy-chan…" the white-haired exorcist began. The thing that he was about to ask the little boy was not going to be the least bit tactful. Allen inhaled. "Do you have any parents?"

The little boy stared at the exorcist and he slowly nodded his head to say that he did have parents. The cursed boy was relieved.

"We'll take you to them, Lucy-chan. Where are they?" Lenalee asked. The little boy cringed. He didn't want to go home, not now, not ever. Just as when he had finally found people who have accepted his existence in this world. But the little boy knew that staying with these people was impossible. So, the little boy pointed a shaky finger towards the west part of the village.

"You live there?"

The boy nodded with dejection apparent in his honest gray eyes.

"Che…" the young samurai finally spoke. "Let's just go, so we can drop off the kid and get some rest."

The three exorcists did not expect to see such a devastating sight. The west part of Darth was nothing like the previous part of the village. The west part was the most desolate place in the village. Silence dominated the place except for the passing wind and the crackling sounds of the exorcists' footsteps. Old abandoned buildings with shattered windows and broken walls stood along the streets. Empty bottles of beer and rubbish scattered on the village floor with rodents and insects infesting on them. Old beggars and street children sat along the main road as they eyed the four unwelcome visitors.

Lucy continued walking forward as he held on to Allen's hand. As they continued following the boy's lead, they started hearing strange noises from afar. As they walked even further, the noise became louder and recognizable. It was the sound of shattering bottles, crashing wood and drunken laughter. It came from a dilapidated shack straight ahead; so far, the liveliest place in the entire west part of Darth.

Lucy stopped in front of the shack. The boy held Allen's hand tighter. This was he's home—such a devastating place. He never wanted to go back to this place.

Allen felt the boy's hesitance to go inside but there was nothing he can do; this was where Lucian lived, even though he is dismayed, there is nothing he can do about it. Allen sighed. He lowered himself on level with the little boy and placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Neh… Lucy-chan, thank you for helping us get to this village," Allen said. Tears started to well up in Lucy's gray eyes. "We had a lot of fun with you and we'll definitely miss you, right guys?" Allen turned to his other companions.

"Hai." Lenalee beamed at the little boy. The female exorcist was definitely going to miss the blue-haired boy even though they've only been together for a while.

"Kanda?" Allen turned to the samurai

"Che…" Kanda hissed.

"Well, don't worry about him Lucy. Even though he's like that, he'll definitely miss you." The cursed boy smiled.

Allen stood up and moved to turn the knob, but as he was about to do so, the door suddenly slammed open from the other side. Allen quickly grabbed Lucy as he and the other exorcists quickly moved out of the way. A frail body of a woman was unceremoniously thrown outside of the door and was made to land roughly on the dirt floor.

The woman had long strikingly familiar light blue hair. She wore of deep red stilettos, fish net stockings, a tight mini-skirt and a spaghetti-strap blouse. Her face had dark make-up on that was dripping all over her face due to sweat and tears. The woman was a total mess.

"You filthy bitch!" A stout woman at the door shouted at the disheveled woman on the floor. "You're not giving me enough profit!"

"Please, give me another chance. I swear I'll do better." The woman on the floor sobbed desperately.

"How can you not satisfy you're customers well?! You were one of the best that I had!" the stout woman shouted hysterically.

The disheveled woman on the floor had nothing to reply to this. She just continued sobbing on the dirty floor.

"Ever since you had that child, you lost your appeal!!" The stout woman was turning red in anger.

"But the child's not here anymore…" the woman on the floor reasoned.

"You're pathetic!" The stout woman stomped her huge foot on the ground and pointed a finger at the woman on the floor. "You don't even know who screwed you at that time…" At this, the stout woman slammed the door shut causing the already decrepit shack to shake in impact. The disheveled woman in the floor sobbed hysterically.

The three exorcists were shocked at recent episode—a sight truly not meant for a young five year-olds eyes. Little Lucy was shivering behind Allen Walker as he gripped the cloth of his pants even tighter. The little boy was horrified at the incident. Young as little Lucy was, he understood everything that happened. He was definitely not wanted, not by her, not by anyone.

Lenalee slowly approached the disheveled woman on the floor. "Ano…are you…"

"DON'T COME NEAR ME!!" the woman shouted. Her long locks of light-blue hair covered her face as her head was bowed down. Lenalee stopped in her tracks. "Leave me alone!! Have I been put to enough shame already?!"

"But…"

"GO AWAY!!" the woman shouted as he snapped her head towards the three exorcists. As she did so, she spotted a familiar shade of blue hair behind one of the exorcists.

"You!" The woman pointed at little Lucy. "This is all your fault!!"

Little Lucy cringed at the harlot's sudden outrage. He was scared—scared of what that woman would do to him. Little Lucy buried his face into the cloth of Allen's pants.

"Nothing good ever came out from you!!" the woman screamed in anger. "You just made my life more miserable!!"

This broke the little boy's heart. He was in the verge of tears. Sensing this, Allen Walker carried the sorrowful boy in his arms, as if he were trying to protect the little soul from the harsh words that came out from the frantic woman's godforsaken mouth. The little boy wrapped his arms around the exorcist's neck and cried his heart's burden as he buried his face in Allen's shoulder.

At this the three exorcists were starting to loose their nerve. And to think they actually tried to help this pathetic harlot. A vein popped out of Kanda's temple; even he had heard enough her. Lenalee bowed her head, her bangs covering her eyes as she tried to suppress her anger at the harlot in front of her.

"I wish I never had you! I wish you never existed in the first place!!" the woman shouted in finality.

Her final words echoed in the little boy's young mind. 'I wish I never had you…I wish you never existed…' The boy wrapped his arms even tighter around the white-haired exorcist and he cried even harder. The little boy wanted to scream so badly; he wanted to scream all the pain away, but ill-fated cruelty did not permit him to.

"Shut up, woman!!" Kanda finally bellowed.

"You…" The woman was about to retort at the young samurai but then a swift hand met with her cheek causing a piercing sensation. In her anger, Lenalee slapped the ungrateful harlot.

The woman's eyes widened. The sudden action caught her in utter surprise.

"You…" Lenalee glared at the woman on the floor. "…do not deserve that child for you were never a mother to begin with!!"

The woman was left speechless as the three exorcists left with the brokenhearted little boy.

The three exorcists finally arrived in front of the inn. According to Allen Walker's pocket watch, it was already 8:25 PM, yet the sky had absolutely no signs of even dimming down. The brightness of day was being unforgiving for it brought sarcasm to the brokenhearted little soul who had painfully received such cruel rejection. Little Lucy in Allen's arms was wide awake but was dreadfully exhausted from his emotional outburst. The false day hurt his tired eyes, so he cuddled underneath Allen's chin to find refuge from the unforgiving brightness of the day.

"We're here," Allen sighed.

"So what are we going to do with the kid?" Kanda went straight to the point. Little Lucy, hoisted himself up from under Allen's chin and gazed at the three exorcists with him.

They were going to leave him for he was just a horrible child who just brought nothing but misfortune. He's existence was a complete waste. Who would want a child like him? The boy cringed as painful thoughts went in turmoil in his mind.

"Well, I guess there's nothing we can do," Lenalee said. She moved closer to the little boy. As the female exorcist did so, the little boy closed his eyes tightly. He was scared to know that he was going to be abandoned again and will forever be lost in this cruel world. Rejection was something his fragile heart could not bear anymore. He was scared…

But then a gentle hand patted the little boy's head. "We'll just have to take care of him for a while." Lenalee smiled at the little boy.

It took time before the little boy finally understood the kind words that were spoken to him. He couldn't believe it at first. The boy's eyes widen in utter shock. Without knowing it, tears started to stream down his eyes, in response to the great joy he felt in his heart. He opened his mouth to say something. He wanted to thank them so much, but he's intentions were left unheard.

"Why are you crying, Lucy-chan?" Lenalee furrowed her eyebrows in worry. "Did we say something wrong?"

The little boy quickly shook his head and wiped his tears away. Then, he smiled at the female exorcist in front of him and wrapped his arms around her neck. He was very happy and the three exorcists clearly saw that. No words were needed.


	10. A Day in The Village

Konichiwa! Innocent-illusory here. Do you believe that depression because of nothing is the worst of its kind? Well, I very much agree to this. Currently, sorrow is emanating in the abyss of my empty heart...and I can't seem to find the answer why. Here' s Chapter 10...please R&R and enjoy.

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**Chapter 10: A Day in the Village**

The three exorcists checked in to their rooms. They stayed in two rooms adjacent to each other. Kanda and Allen shared one room, while Lenalee, had one room all to herself. Now, the problem was who was little Lucy-chan going to sleep with.

Kanda and Allen's room had two twin beds with a side table that stood in between. The bathroom door was located at the opposite side of the two beds and the closet stood adjacent it. A lone armchair stood at the corner of the room. There was no need for lights, for the daylight outside was already sufficient enough to light up the whole room. And thankfully, useful black curtains hung above the windows to keep the daylight out when needed.

Lenalee sat in one of the beds in the two boy's room as she watched the two male exorcists unpack their things. Little Lucy was comfortably seating on her lap. Lenalee took the liberty of tidying up the little boy and getting rid of his old clothes. He was now wearing one of Allen's button-up collar shirts that were clearly too big for him, but this was only for the meantime until Lenalee gets to buy him new clothes.

Allen opened his luggage and as he did, a golden blur suddenly shot out from his belongings causing them to scatter in place. It was Timcanpy and he was mad. He ragingly flew around the room barring his sharp teeth.

"What the…" Kanda was swatting the berserk golem out of the way.

"Timcanpy, stop! What's the matter?" Allen reached out for his golden friend.

Little Lucy was rather amused at the berserk little creature flying around the room. He giggled and clapped his hands in delight.

The golden golem finally slowed down and went in front of Allen. He was mad at the cursed-boy for trapping him inside his luggage. Timcanpy growled at the cursed boy and barred his teeth in furious rage.

"I'm sorry Tim…I didn't know." The cursed boy apologized. The golden golem growled in reply.

Then, the little golden golem saw the little boy on Lenalee's lap. Lucy stared at the golden golem. It stayed like this for a long while and then…it was instantly love at first sight. Lucy reached his arms out towards his new golden friend. The little boy smiled brightly as the little golem flew towards him. The little boy clapped his small hands in delight as the golden golem flew around him and rested on his soft light-blue hair.

"Awww…" Lenalee cooed at the heartwarming scene.

"Che…" Kanda hissed as he ignored the two.

"Oh yeah, it's almost getting late. Lucy should go to sleep now," Allen said as he placed his clothes inside the closet.

"So, who's he going to sleep with?" Lenalee asked.

There was a long silence.

Then, little Lucy got off Lenalee's lap and slowly walked towards Kanda. He gently tugged on the samurai's uniform as he looked up at him with his big innocent gray eyes. Anyone who saw those eyes would definitely give in, but not Kanda.

"No," Kanda said directly to the little boy. "You are not sleeping with me."

"Aw…come on Kanda," Allen pleaded to the stubborn exorcist. "Lucy says he wants to sleep with you."

The little boy continued on tugging at Kanda's uniform. The little boy was being very persistent but the samurai still said…

"No."

"…at least just for the night, Kanda. We'll take turns sleeping with him every night. Is that okay with you, Lucy?"

The little boy turned his head at the white-haired exorcist and nodded in agreement to the suggestion; then, he quickly turned his head back at the stubborn samurai.

"Che…"

"Kanda, how could you be so cruel to little Lucy-chan?" Lenalee scolded at the stubborn exorcist. "Lucy-chan just came back from such a heart-wrenching experience. The least you can do is comply with his simple request."

The little boy below Kanda gently nodded as he agreed with the female exorcist. And then he looked up at Kanda with his big gray eyes. Then, tears started to well up at the little boy's eyes.

"Fine! Just don't cry anymore." Kanda finally gave in.

The little boy was delighted. He instantly wrapped his small arms around Kanda's leg.

"Che…"

"Awww…" Allen and Lenalee cooed at the pair.

Then, the little boy's eyes slanted mischievously. Paradoxically, pissing off the samurai made little Lucy feel happy. The little boy was still as sadistic as ever.

Lenalee finally went back to her room leaving the three boys. Kanda let down his long black hair as he prepared himself to retire. As his long hair gracefully fell, little Lucy watched in awe.

"What?" Kanda cocked an eyebrow at the awed little boy in his bed. In reply, the little boy moved to touch the samurai's soft black hair.

"Well, it's lights out," Allen announced as he closed the curtains. The room instantly dimmed down.

"Oyasumi." Allen said to his roommates as he went under his covers to retire for the day.

"Che…" Kanda hissed back at the cursed boy as he and little Lucy went under the covers as well.

Kanda turned his back towards Lucy while the little boy was left staring at the dark ceiling of the room. The boy held the blankets closer to him. He couldn't sleep for his deprived heart was still yearning for something. He gently pulled on the resting samurai's soft long hair.

"What?" Kanda asked groggily at the little boy behind his back. The little boy continued pulling gently.

"You…" Kanda turned around to face the little boy and just as he did, the little boy buried himself in the samurai's chest.

"Oi!" Kanda yelped. Kanda was not an affectionate person. But then the boy snuggled underneath the exorcist's chin as he settled himself in the warmth of the samurai. Although, he was annoyed by this, Kanda could not bring himself to push the tired little boy away, so he let out a sigh and placed a gentle arm around the small boy as he himself went to sleep.

The next day, the three exorcists woke up with a fresh start. Lenalee was sitting on Kanda's bed with little Lucy on her lap again. She watched the two male exorcists in their final moments of preparation. Kanda tied his hair in a secure ponytail while Allen Walker was putting on his jacket.

"Lucy-chan, how was sleeping with Kanda?" Lenalee asked the little boy on her lap. Lucy gave her a big toothy grin and the female exorcist giggled.

"Kawaii!"

"Che…" Kanda hissed at the couple on his bed.

"Neh, Lucy-chan. How about I buy you some new clothes in the village?" Lenalee said to the little boy. At this, the little boy's eyes widened and he quickly nodded. It was apparent that the little boy was very eager.

"Want to come along with us?" Lenalee turned to the two exorcists.

"I'll come!" Allen said eagerly as he went towards the pair. Timcanpy came out of nowhere and followed Allen as well.

"How about you, Kanda?"

"Che…I have better things to do," the grouchy samurai said as he sat on the lone armchair at the corner of the room.

"Suit yourself." Allen lifted little Lucy and put him to sit on top of his shoulders. Lucy clapped his hands in delight and rested them on top of the white-haired exorcist's head. "Let's go," Allen said.

Allen, Lenalee, Lucy and Tim walked around the village. They were quite a unique bunch from the other people in the streets. They were seen by most of the people as a teenage couple with an illegitimate child and a flying thingamajig but despite their obscure description, the people cooed and gazed at them in admiration.

"Aww…such a cute couple," two women cooed as the couple passed by.

"Err…Lenalee, why are they looking at us strangely?" Allen asked the female exorcist beside him.

"We do look like an odd bunch, don't you think?" Lenalee replied.

"Hehe…" Allen gulped. Little Lucy giggled as Timcanpy circled around him playfully.

Tyki Mikk watched his targets as they roamed around the village from a tall stone building a few blocks away. His hair swayed with the warm breeze of day as he stood on the rooftop observing them. A sly grin formed on his lips as he thought of a great surprise for them.

"Aww…that is so cute. They even got a little boy with them," Tyki cooed with oozing sarcasm. His eyes slanted mischievously as he continued watching his prey. "This will be much more entertaining…"

The company finally went inside a dress shop. The young female shopkeeper welcomed them inside. The shopkeeper found her new customers odd but quite delightful. She observed them as they picked out clothes for the little blue-haired boy.

"Allen, what do you think of this?" Lenalee raised a white sailor-collar shirt, with blue lines that ran along the edges of the collar.

"Err…I don't really know, Lenalee." Allen scratched his head. He's not one to be asked for opinions when it comes to clothes because he doesn't really care about them.

"Miss, I think that is a brilliant choice." The female shopkeeper approached the exorcist.

"Ah, thank you." Lenalee smiled at the shopkeeper. Lenalee then selected a matching pair of blue shorts.

"Lucy-chan, come here." The motherly exorcist opened the curtains of the dressing room. "Let's put on your new clothes."

Little Lucy smiled brightly as he eagerly ran towards the female exorcist and into the dressing room. A few minutes later, Lucy came out with his new wardrobe on—the blue outlined, sailor-collar shirt with the matching pair of plain blue-shorts.

"It's cute, don't you think, Allen-kun?" Lenalee turned to the white-haired exorcist. Allen nodded.

"Miss, may I recommend something to add to the little boy's wardrobe?" the kind shopkeeper asked the female exorcist.

"Sure." Lenalee smiled at the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper got a blue ribbon and a flat white sailor hat with a blue tassel hanging on the side. The shopkeeper approached the little boy. She tied the ribbon under his collar making a nice ribbon at the center. Then, she gently put the sailor hat on the little boy; it complimented the child's soft light blue hair.

"What do you think, miss?" The shopkeeper turned to the couple behind her.

"It's very nice, thank you," Lenalee said to the kind shopkeeper.

"Only one last thing…" Allen lifted a pair of clean white socks and a pair of black leather shoes with shiny silver buckles. Allen hoisted little Lucy on a stool and put the socks and shoes on the little boy's small feet. "There," the exorcist said in satisfaction. "Now, you're all set."

Little Lucy hopped off the stool and turned around to let them see the full of his appearance. The little boy beamed with sincere joy apparent in his honest gray eyes. Little Lucy jumped and wrapped his arms around Allen's waist with his little feet floating a few inches above the floor. This was the happiest he had ever felt in his entire life.

"Aww…" The shopkeeper cooed. "He's such a bundle of joy, isn't he? You are so lucky to have them in your life, miss."

Lenalee was a bit intrigued with the shopkeeper's choice of words. But nevertheless, Lenalee was indeed happy to be with them. "Hai," she replied.

"The little boy has his father's eyes. They look so much a like," the shopkeeper said as she watched her supposed 'father and son'.

"Excuse me?" Lenalee and Allen turned in unison to the female shopkeeper.

"And they say teenage couples were taboo, but I don't see anything wrong with your relationship," the female shopkeeper said.

Allen cleared his throat. "Onee-san, you are mistaken. Lenalee and I are…"

"I'm so jealous." The shopkeeper placed a hand on her cheek as she blushed in embarrassment. "I'm twenty-two years old and I don't even have a decent boyfriend…"

"Onee-san, it's not like that…" Lenalee tried to reason.

"But oh well…there's no point in brooding over it, is there?" the shopkeeper said. "Neh, make sure you bring your children here in the future. I would love to see you again. I'll even give you a discount for every child…"

What was this shopkeeper thinking? 'For every child…'—she must be thinking of Allen and Lenalee as an 'active' teenage couple. This was quite far-fetched, much to the two exorcists' embarrassment.

"Well, errr… thank you Onee-san." Allen smiled wryly at the kind shopkeeper. "We'll bring our… children with us when we come back."

"Allen!" Lenalee jabbed him on the arm with her elbow.

"Take care," the shopkeeper bade her customers as they left her shop.


	11. The Gray Surprise

Innocent-illusory here! Thanks for all your reviews, they really inspired us to keep going. This chapter is quite action-packed and it was a bit challenging to write, but we enjoyed. We don't like to keep people waiting so we try our best to always update as soon as possible, despite of Therese-chan's busy schedule sob. That's how much we love you guys, hehe! So anyway, enjoy this chapter...

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**Chapter 11: The Gray Surprise**

Kanda Yuu had just finished his meditation and decided to do his part on the mission.

The mission was not going as well as what the samurai had expected. Kanda thought that the the mission's schedule and pacing have been a tad delayed ever since that little boy came—not that he despised the little boy.

In truth, Kanda Yuu had a soft spot for the little disowned boy. The samurai just didn't want to show it, for he will never hear the end of that stupid Rabbit's taunting: 'Aww…Papa Yuu-chan'.

A vein popped out of his temple at the thought.

Kanda decided to go out and inquire people about the phenomenon in the village. As he was now outside the hallway, he noticed the door of the neighboring female exorcist's room was slightly ajar.

"That girl…" Kanda hissed. He scowled at the girl's display of carelessness. Kanda moved to close the door but then from the opening, he spotted a sword's hilt lying on the bed. Kanda's eyes widened and he slammed the door open. That girl left her sword—it's an absolute rule that you NEVER leave your sword. How can she be so careless?!

"Che…" Kanda quickly grabbed the sword and rushed outside.

The four (with Timcanpy included) were now eating ice cream as they continued their walk around the village. Little Lucy was walking in between the two exorcists while holding Lenalee's hand and his ice cream cone in the other.

"Allen-kun, thank you for coming with us," Lenalee said to the exorcist beside her.

"It was no problem at all, Lenalee." Allen beamed at the girl. "Oh…Lenalee, you have some cream on your face right there." Allen gestured to the spot.

"Where?"

"Here." Allen moved closer to wipe the spot of cream on the girl's face. Lenalee blushed at the sudden gesture. It took Allen a couple of seconds before he realized the implication of his action. He quickly pulled his hand away as he turned scarlet red in embarrassment. "S-sorry..!"

"No, it's okay…" the girl said, blushing.

Suddenly, Allen Walker felt a reaction in his left eye. This was not good. His heart started racing. His breathing became faster. His senses heightened and his innocence started craving for the kill.

The village was in danger.

"Akuma!" Allen shouted. "There are thirty-four of them heading this way." Allen scanned the area. "Twenty-two level ones and…" Allen quickly turned his head to another direction. "…twelve level twos."

Suddenly, a woman's piercing scream cracked through the air. Akuma's started rampaging in the streets, emerging from alleys and behind buildings. The Akuma's started shooting their bullets mercilessly, killing innocent people. People were panicking as they tried to seek refuge from the showering bullets.

Allen quickly lunged himself towards a group of level one Akuma.

"Innocence, hatsudou! Clown Belt!" And in one swift move, Allen killed three level one Akumas.

"Oh no…" Lenalee realized her awful mistake. She forgot her weapon. "This is bad…" Lenalee quickly carried Lucy and ran for shelter. She was completely useless without a weapon. The least she could do was protect little Lucy and pray for Allen's safety.

Hiding was futile for the village was in broad daylight, they could be easily detected. Lenalee knew this so she needed to find a place dark and secluded. She ended up bringing little Lucy with her in a desolate alley. A trapdoor was located at the end. She quickly ran towards it and hid inside with little Lucy.

The space was dark and cramped with only little amounts of daylight seeping from the tiny cracks of the trapdoor. The noise of raining bullets and ear-splitting screams could be heard from outside. Little Lucy moved closer to Lenalee as he was starting to get scared.

"Lucy, don't be scared," Lenalee comforted the shivering little boy in her arms. "I won't leave you. We'll get out of this."

Suddenly, red slanted eyes glowed from a dark corner of the space. "Who dares disturb my sleep?" A gloomy voice resounded. Green slimy tentacles quickly shot out from the dark.

Kanda gripped the sword in his hand tighter as he ran around the Akuma-infested village. Two level one Akumas were heading his way.

"Che…" Kanda hissed. "Innocence, hatsudou!" Black boots instantly equipped themselves on his legs. Kanda shot up and gave one Akuma a heavy round-house kick which sent him crashing towards the ground. Kanda moved to attack the second Akuma by flattening him down on the village floor.

"Che…" Kanda continued to move forward. Now, he leapt his way around the village. By doing this he was covering more ground. Suddenly, Kanda heard a familiar scream just up ahead.

"Aaah!!"

It was Lenalee.

"Shit…" the samurai cursed. He needed to get there quick.

"Ugh…a Level Two," Lenalee gasped as the Akuma's thick, slimy tentacle tightly gripped around her neck. Little Lucy raised his hands as he desperately tried to reach for the captured exorcist.

"Lucy, run…" Lenalee struggled to say while in the tight hold of the Akuma. Lucy shook his head. He didn't want to leave. Tears started streaming down his eyes.

"And they said you guys were scary," the vicious Level Two Akuma said. He shot out another slimy tentacle from his hideous body and tightly wrapped it around Lenalee's torso. The captured exorcist gasped in pain as a few of her ribs started to crack.

"Ahhh!!" Lenalee screamed in pain.

Suddenly a black clad figure appeared in the broad daylight sky.

"That's enough!" The dark-haired exorcist quickly landed in the alley and spun a powerful kick at the Level Two Akuma. The Akuma was sent skidding on the alley floor. Lenalee was released from the hold of the Akuma and she fell on the floor with a thud. She slowly hoisted her self up as she held her damaged ribs. She painfully coughed out blood as some of the blood vessels in her rib area might have ruptured from constriction.

Little Lucy approached the female exorcist on the floor. The little boy held Lenalee's arm gently as he tried his best to comfort the pain stricken exorcist.

"I'm going to be alright Lucy-chan, so don't cry…" Lenalee gave a faint smile to the little boy beside her.

"Che…get up," the samurai exorcist hissed at the girl on the floor. He unceremoniously threw the sword towards the other exorcist. As the sword came hurling towards her, Lenalee quickly snatched the sword from the air and she quickly hoisted herself up from the floor. She instantly unsheathed the sharp, silver blade—gleaming as the bright daylight touched its smooth surface.

The Level Two Akuma got back to its senses. "You…don't get too cocky with yourself bitch!" the Akuma bellowed at the female exorcist. "Just because you got your sword doesn't mean…gaaah!!"

With one swift strike, Lenalee cut through the hideous Akuma, splattering slime all over the alley. The remains of the Level Two Akuma quickly disintegrated.

Lenalee looked back at the black-haired exorcist and she could tell that he was not happy at all. The samurai scowled at her.

"You…" Kanda began scolding the female exorcist in front of him. "…are not suppose to leave your weapon behind, baka! You are too careless!"

"I'm sorry, Sensei!" Lenalee bowed in apology to the samurai.

"Che…" Kanda hissed. "Let's just go."

"Hai," Lenalee said.

Allen Walker ran in the Akuma-infested streets of Darth. He passed by groups of petty Level One Akuma and killed them in one swift move. So far, he has killed thirteen Akumas: nine Level Ones and four Level Twos and still counting. Allen continued running in search for more Akuma to slay. But then, anxiety started to trouble him—he was concerned about his friends; he needed to get back to them.

Tyki Mikk was watching the rampage. He knew that the army of Akuma he sent was no match for the three exorcists. He just sent them for a little warm up. The dark Noah sighed. He was getting bored.

"It's only been ten minutes and they killed more than half of my army already…" the Noah sighed. "How about we spice things up a bit…"

The dark Noah snapped his fingers and he summoned three Level Three Akumas. The Akumas instantly appeared to do their master's bidding.

"You see those three there?" Tyki pointed at the three exorcists below the village. "I know you can't kill them, so I'm just going to ask you to give them a hard time. Give them some exercise."

The three Akumas agreed to follow their master's orders and immediately vanished.

Kanda, Lenalee and little Lucy were now in search for the white-haired exorcist. They needed to get back together. The two exorcists have killed eighteen monsters: twelve Level Ones and six Level Twos. Gradually, the two exorcists were getting exhausted since both equipment-type users were not acquainted with their new weapons and therefore, the two exorcists use ample amounts of their energy in merely controlling them.

"Che…" Kanda hissed as he continued running.

"We need to get to Allen..." Lenalee panted as she tailed behind the exorcist in front of her. Little Lucy was trying to keep up with her. His small hand was tightly held by Lenalee as they continued running down the streets.

Suddenly, as they were about to turn around a corner, a human-like figure landed from above, cracking the floor underneath it. The figure was of dark ebony color with scaly skin. It had ambiguous dark gray patterns running along its limbs. Its eyes were slits of threatening deep scarlet and it had sharp spikes on its back. It was a Level Three Akuma.

"You are one of the exorcists that Tyki-sama has ordered us to take care of," the Akuma said, forming an evil grin on his face.

"Che…that bastard," Kanda said; his scowl deepened.

The Akuma let out his battle cry and lunged towards Kanda. The monster bared his sharp claws as he swiped his hand across Kanda's chest, but then the exorcist was able to evade the attack by jumping up in the air. Kanda somersaulted in the air and landed behind the monster. He kicked the monster hard on the face, causing him to break his neck. The monster was instantly sent hurling towards one of the buildings. But then, the Akuma quickly recovered and emerged out from the debris and clouds of dust.

"That hurt," the Akuma said. "That ain't enough to kill me yet!" The Akuma dashed back towards the exorcists in lightning speed.

"Innocence, hatsudou!" Lenalee activated her sword and ran to meet head on with the approaching Akuma. Lenalee thrust her sword in an attempt to penetrate through the monster's body, but the monster shifted to one side, evading it. The girl quickly jumped away from the monster to lengthen their distance. The monster leapt and in one split second he was already in front of the female exorcist. He swung his scaly arm down towards the exorcist, but the exorcist was able to block it with her sword. But then, the monster kicked Lenalee hard on the stomach, sending her skidding on the floor.

Little Lucy saw this in dread and motioned to run towards the fallen exorcist.

"Don't come here, Lucy!" Lenalee shouted. She gripped her sword tighter; she drove her blade on the floor to support her as she slowly hoisted herself up. "It's dangerous…"

Lucy stopped in his tracks and he started to cry. He couldn't stand seeing them like this anymore.

"If only I had dark boots…" Lenalee whispered to herself.

Kanda leaped towards the Akuma but just as he landed in front of him, the monster swiped his sharp hands in an attempt to behead the exorcist but Kanda quickly ducked and retaliated by kicking him under the chin as he flipped himself backwards. The monster was sent staggering back.

"You bastard!" the Akuma cried. He quickly lunged towards the black-haired exorcist. He barred his claws as he reached for the exorcist.

Kanda was caught unprepared for this attack. He quickly moved to evade the monster's attack but the monster was able to graze his arm deeply.

"Shit…" Kanda cursed. Suddenly, he felt agonizing pain. Five sharp lengths pierced him from the back going through the thickness of his body. Kanda slowly shifted his head and he saw the Akuma behind him with a smirk. The five sharp objects that pierced him were actually his claws elongated at his command.

The Akuma laughed. "You didn't expect this, didn't you?" The Akuma impulsively retrieved his claws from the exorcist's body.

"Gaah!" Kanda cried in agonizing pain. He legs gave out and he instantly fell on the floor. "Shit...if only I had Mugen, this fuckin' bastard would be dead by now!" Kanda cursed.

The monster pulled Kanda's hair, lifting his head up. "Aww…you givin' up now?" the monster taunted the exorcist.

The samurai was pissed right now. He was annoyed by the fact that he was getting beaten up by this no good son of a bitch who would have long been dead right now if only he had Mugen. He has beaten tougher enemies than this and now because of that stupid Moyashi, he was reduced to this. The samurai clenched his fist—with or without Mugen nobody beats the shit out of Kanda Yuu.

"You wish, you son of a bitch!" Kanda jabbed him on the face with his fist. The monster was sent on the floor.

"Hyaah!!" Lenalee jumped high in the air to slash the monster from above, but in a split second the monster disappeared. Suddenly, an array of sharp lengths came piercing through the air, but the female exorcist was able to block them with her sword and cut them. The monster staggered backwards. Then, Kanda appeared behind him and kicked him hard on the back, launching him forward. The force was so great that the Akuma could not get out from the momentum, and then his body met with a sword's sharp end. The sharp blade pierced straight through his heart.

"Gaah!!" the Akuma cried as his body disintegrated.


	12. Found

Konichiwa, minna-san! Finally back! Chapter 12 is up...hope you enjoy. Lots of things are still going to happen. Yay!

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**Chapter 12: Found**

Allen Walker was faring just as bad as his fellow exorcists. A Level Three Akuma stood before him. The Akuma had dark dirt brown skin and black crack-like patterns that ran across his chest. He had sharp spikes growing out of his shoulder blades and eyes of deep blood red. The Akuma lunged to attack the white-haired exorcist.

Allen did not have time for this beast. He quickly dodged the lunging monster and swiped his Akuma weapon across the monster causing a deep gash on the monster's chest. The monster was sent skidding on the floor and Allen Walker quickly continued on his way.

"You!" the monster roared. "I'm not dead yet!" The Akuma launched the sharp spikes on his shoulder blades towards Allen.

"Shit…" Allen cursed as he quickly turned around and destroyed the flying spikes with his Clown Belt. The spikes exploded and broke into shards. Allen dashed towards the Akuma and in a split second, he was already in front of him. The monster's eyes widened.

"I don't have time for you!" Allen hissed, scowling at the Akuma in front of him. "Cross Grave!"

A cross-shaped blaze penetrated the Akuma's body.

"Gaaah!!" The Akuma screamed in agony as his body disintegrated.

"Kanda, are you okay?" Lenalee panted, leaning on the building wall.

"Che…" Kanda hissed. "You don't have to worry about me. My wounds are already starting to heal."

The two exorcists were worn out from their ordeal with the Level Three Akuma. They put so much energy into their weapons and yet they were only at par with the Level Three Akuma. They could have easily beaten that Akuma if only they had their original weapons, much to the exorcists' frustration.

Little Lucy approached the exhausted exorcists. He gently touched Lenalee's hand as his way of giving comfort to the injured exorcist. The gesture was simple yet it contained the little boy's utmost concern.

Lenalee looked down at the worried little boy with her. She slowly lowered her sore body on par with the little boy.

"Neh…Lucy-chan, we're alright," Lenalee said as she smiled to the little boy. "So please don't worry about us…"

The little boy wrapped his arms around Lenalee's neck as his little heart was slowly relieved from all the anxiety.

Suddenly, a giant claw emerged from the brick wall behind little boy.

"Watch out!" Kanda shouted at the distant pair.

The giant claw moved to tear the little boy with the female exorcist, but just in the nick of time, Lenalee quickly jumped back, distancing Lucy and herself from the attacking claw.

The owner of the giant claw fully emerged from the brick wall. He had dark, rough, gray skin with battle scars that contrasted on the surface. He had disproportional limbs—his right limb was of normal size for his body but his left was a gigantic razor sharp claw. His eyes were slits of ominous red. And he had wings of tough leather-like texture growing out of his back. Another Level Three Akuma has appeared—a rather tough looking one.

"I see you have killed my brother," the Akuma chuckled, ironically delighted by his brother's death. "He was a weakling anyway. Although, I have to hand it to him…he did manage to give you a hard time."

"Che…" Kanda hissed. He dashed towards the Akuma, but the Akuma quickly vanished in a split second just as the exorcist met him.

"What the…" Kanda's eyes widened.

"Too slow…" The Akuma suddenly appeared behind the exorcist and slashed his giant claw across Kanda's back.

"Gaah!!" Kanda screamed in agony as blood spattered from his mouth. The exorcist held himself together despite of the inflicted injury. He clenched his fists tight. "Shit!" the exorcist cursed as he mustered all his strength to spin a kick at the Akuma behind him.

The attack was futile for the Akuma easily avoided it by simply jerking backwards. He caught the injured exorcist's kicking leg and swung it to the side, sending his body crashing towards a building.

"Kanda!!" Lenalee leapt towards the Akuma and swung her sword down. The Akuma jerked backwards to avoid the attack. Lenalee thrust herself forward as she made multiple slashes with her sword in different directions. Although as fast as her attacks were, the Akuma was able to dodge them. Suddenly, he flew up in the air with his wide leather-like wings.

"Ugh…" Lenalee put her arms up to protect herself from the powerful wind coming from the Akuma's wings.

"Such petty attacks," the Akuma said. "You're not the only one who can use blades…" The Akuma wrapped his wings around him. As he did, strong gushing wind started to circulate around him. Moments later, he suddenly opened his wings wide and the wind surrounding him dispersed as sharp blades of wind in different directions.

Lenalee's eyes widened. She quickly swung her sword to protect herself from the incoming blades, but it was futile for she couldn't hit them all. The blades of wind grazed her, tearing her clothes and causing piercing cuts on her body. The wind slowly died down leaving the female exorcist barely standing with numerous cuts on her body. Lenalee managed to keep on standing with her sword driven into the ground for support.

The Akuma landed on the floor and walked towards the female exorcist. He violently grabbed the exorcist's hair, pulling her head up towards him.

"That's all you got?" the Akuma said with a hideous smirk on his face.

The two exorcists were currently no match for the Level Three Akuma in front of them. Defeat was inevitable with their current status—both exorcists did not have their original weapons and they were both exhausted from the battle with the previous Level Three Akuma. To add to their predicament, the Akuma in their midst seemed to be the strongest among the Level Three Akuma's sent.

Little Lucy stood at the side, appalled by the episode in front of him. He was frozen in fear as he saw the Level Three Akuma defeat his friends so easily. He wanted to scream but he couldn't. His frightened self told him to run but it pained him to leave the people dear to him.

"Ah, I see we have a spectator here..." the Akuma said, as he turned towards the little boy. "You can see me kill your friends with your very own eyes."

A tear rolled down Lenalee's face. "Lucy, run…" she whispered. The Akuma pulled her hair even tighter. Lenalee gasped at the agonizing pain.

"You said something, bitch?" the Akuma growled at the vulnerable exorcist in his hold.

"Edge End!"

Suddenly, a white blur appeared behind the level three Akuma. Allen Walker slashed his sharp claw across the hideous Akuma, tearing his wings apart.

"Gaaah!!" the Akuma screamed in agony, letting go of the female exorcist in his hold.

Allen quickly leapt to catch the female exorcist.

"Lenalee, get a hold of yourself!" Allen cried at the exorcist in his arms.

"Allen-kun, you came..." Lenalee whispered. She placed a gentle hand on his face. "I'm glad you're alright…" She smiled faintly at the cursed boy. A tear of relief rolled down on her face.

"I'm sorry, Lenalee…" Allen sobbed as he held the girl's body tighter towards him.

"You bastard!" the Akuma growled as he slowly got up. He lunged towards the couple as he bared his giant claw towards them.

Allen quickly leaped away with the girl in his arms. He put Lenalee down to lean on the building wall nearby. "I'll be back…" Allen whispered. The girl nodded and the white haired exorcist turned his attention back to the Akuma.

"I cannot forgive you for hurting my friends." Allen scowled at the Akuma in front of him. He ran towards the Akuma as he lifted his sharp claw.

"Crown Edge!"

A barrage of sharp crown-shaped rings dispersed from Allen's claw hand. The Akuma leaped to dodge the attack

"Ha!" the Akuma chuckled. But suddenly, white ribbons entangled themselves around his limbs, immobilizing him. The Akuma growled as he struggled to writhe himself out from the white lengths.

"Did Tyki send you here?" Allen yelled at the Akuma in his custody.

The Akuma snorted. "Why would I answer to you..?"

"Answer me!" Allen demanded as he pulled the belt around the Akuma even tighter, as if he was squeezing out the answer from the monster.

"Yes!" the Akuma gasped, his eyeballs protruding from the pain.

"Where is he?"

The Akuma remained silent.

"Where is he?!" Allen reiterated his question more forcefully. He pulled his belt even tighter. The Akuma screamed in pain.

"I don't know! I don't know!" the Akuma shouted.

Allen released his belt and the Akuma fell on the ground.

"Piteous soul of Akuma, may your soul rest in peace…" Allen spoke with sincere solemnity. He placed his hands, palms facing towards the Akuma on the floor and shouted, "Cross Grave!"

A cross-like blaze materialized from Allen's hands and penetrated the Akuma's body.

"Gaah!!" the Akuma screamed as his body disintegrated.

A few minutes later, a new presence was at midst.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Clapping and cheering from a familiar voice resounded in the now desolate street.

Allen looked up and saw the dark Noah, Tyki Mikk on the rooftop. He had a bright grin on his face as he was pleased to meet once again the white haired exorcist.

Allen scowled at the Noah. He clenched his fist tight. "You sent the Akuma here in the village!" he yelled.

"So what if I did?" Tyki Mikk smirked. "You were able to take care of them anyway." The Noah shrugged.

"What are you after?" Allen yelled.

"Well, obviously my dear little exorcist," Tyki spoke with oozing sarcasm. "I'm after the Innocence and I'm going to destroy it."

"You!" Allen lunged towards the Noah on the rooftop. He hopped on the edge and quickly slashed his claw towards the dark Noah. Tyki jerked back, evading the attack. Tyki summoned his Tease to swarm over the cursed boy. Allen then released a barrage of his crown-shaped rings from his claw to destroy the swarm of Tease. An explosion occurred from the attack and clouds of smoke surfaced. The cursed boy emerged from the smoke but suddenly a swift fist hit his stomach. Blood spattered out from his mouth as Allen Walker was sent on the floor.

"Aww…did that hurt?" The Noah feigned sincerity. He languidly twisted his fist as he boringly stared at the exorcist.

Allen quickly got up and wiped off the blood dripping down his mouth. He charged at the dark Noah and slashed his claw in different directions. Tyki swiftly evaded his attacks but suddenly Allen Walker disappeared and reappeared behind the Noah in a split second. The Noah turned his head but he was too late.

"Cross Grave!!"

Tyki's eyes widened. The cross-shaped blaze was already in contact with his back, hurling him towards the other side of the rooftop. Clouds of smoke shrouded the Noah's body. A few moments later, a Tyki Mikk emerged from the clouds of smoke; and in a blink of an eye, he suddenly appeared in front of the white haired exorcist.

"Allen Walker…" Tyki wore a psychotic smile on his face; the Noah was enraged. He mercilessly barraged the boy with punches on his body. The Noah was so quick that the cursed boy didn't even have time to retaliate.

"Die!!" Tyki said as he went frantic at the young exorcist.

Allen Walker was being pummeled by the sadistic Noah. Tyki summoned a Tease in his hand and moved to implant it in Allen's innards. But the cursed boy grabbed the approaching arm with his right hand before it went in contact with him.

"Tyki…" Allen panted, scowling at the Noah in his grasp. Allen held the Noah's hand tighter.

"I still have the other hand you know…" Tyki smirked. He summoned another Tease with his free hand and moved to penetrate it in the cursed boy. But Allen caught it quickly with his claw hand. Both parties' limbs were trembling at the sheer strength of each.

Little Lucy stood beside the injured exorcists on the street. He watched the two fighters on the rooftop. He was once again left to be a bystander of the battle. He wanted to do something with whatever little strength he had. He wanted to help. Then, tears started to flow down his face. It pained him to see his father figure struggling to save them from that evil person. He closed his eyes tightly and wished with all his heart for power—power to help his new found love ones. If only…

"Not bad as usual…" Tyki said as he struggled to push his hand even further towards the cursed boy. Allen grunted as he held the Noah's hand tighter. No one was planning on letting go of one another. Suddenly, a concentrated beam of daylight went pass the Noah's eyes, causing a piercing sensation in his optical receptors.

"Gaah!!" The Noah instantly leapt backward as he covered his irritated eyes with his arm. The Noah turned to see where the beam came from. It came from a space in the day lit sky above the little blue-haired boy. The spot in the sky where the beam came from was warped, contrasting with its surrounding. It seems as though the boy had something to do with it.

"That boy…" the Noah narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, no you don't!!" Allen charged towards the Noah and swiped his claw across his chest.

The Noah evaded it and quickly summoned his Tease. "I see that I am in the right track," Tyki said with a smirk. "We shall meet again…" And with his parting words, he instantly vanished as his swarm of Tease enshrouded him.

Allen turned to look at the little boy below. The exorcist also saw the strange phenomenon and there was no doubt about it—they could not afford to lose the little boy.


	13. Caring Father, Sadistic Son

Konichiwa! Innocent-Illusory here! Been busy for a while since recitals are coming up, so sorry for the short delay. Chapter 13 is up! And it's gonna be fluffy...aggghhh!! I was listening to some love songs when I was writing this--I was so inspired. I was listening to David Cook's rendition of Mariah's 'Always be my Baby' and Mark Sherman's 'Changes in my Life' (I doubt you know this song). Anyway, please enjoy this chapter. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it...hehe!

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**Chapter 13: Caring Father, Sadistic Son**

Allen Walker gently laid Lenalee on her bed. They were now back at the inn after their dreaded encounter with the Akumas. Fortunately for Allen, the trip back did not require him to carry two unconscious bodies, for Kanda Yuu recovered his conscience just after the battle and managed to walk by himself. Now, the samurai was back in their quarters with Little Lucy keeping him company.

Lenalee slowly opened her eyes and the first thing that came into her sight was the white-haired exorcist's worried face.

"Allen-kun…" she whispered. She winced at the sudden pain from her broken ribs. The agonizing pain was making it tedious for her to speak or move.

"Lenalee…" Allen hushed the exhausted exorcist. He placed a gentle hand on her arm. "Please, don't exert yourself."

Allen went to get some clean towels and a basin of clear water from the bathroom. He placed them on the side table beside the female exorcist's bed. The young exorcist took in a deep breath as he was about to be begin the tedious task.

"Lenalee…" Allen spoke gently to the girl. "I'm going to dress your wounds…"

Lenalee blearily looked up at the cursed boy.

"So, I…" Allen paused to find the right words to make his request sound tactful. He needed the girl's consent to remove her clothes. The girl might not easily comply with it, but it was necessary for Allen so he could tend to her injuries. The least he wanted to do was tarnish the girl's dignity.

Lenalee saw the awkwardness in the boy's features. She had an idea of what the boy was about to say. It was indeed embarrassing for her but she had utmost trust in the young exorcist in front of her—he will never do anything to hurt her. She could see that he wanted to care for her; now, it was just up to her to cooperate.

"Please...take care of me," Lenalee said in a hush voice.

Allen nodded. He rolled up his sleeves and moved to undress the injured girl. He held the zipper's tab in between his fingers and slowly pulled it down the length of the girl's jacket, focusing his eyes on the girl's face and not on the area of exposed skin underneath the clothing—Lenalee turned red in embarrassment at the boy's tender gaze. He gently shed off her tattered jacket with utmost care as to not cause friction between her cuts and the jacket's fiber.

After that tedious task, Allen got the clean towels and soaked them in clear water. He squeezed out the excess water and placed a damp towel on the girl's fresh cuts. He started cleaning the wounds on her arms and her chest, proceeding down towards her legs. Lenalee winced in pain as the damp towel met in contact with her cuts.

"I'm sorry, Lenalee…" Allen looked up at the pain stricken exorcist.

The cursed boy got a bottle of antiseptic, a pair of forceps and some cotton balls from the side table drawer.

"This might sting…" Allen cautioned. "But please bear with it for a while."

Lenalee weakly nodded.

Allen began disinfecting the girl's wounds with antiseptic. He applied some antiseptic on the cotton balls and began dabbing it on her wounds with the pair of forceps. It was quite an excruciatingly long task, for the girl had numerous blade inflicted cuts but the boy painstakingly disinfected each and every cut. Lenalee fisted the blankets underneath her as she tried to tolerate the pain.

Then, Allen got some bandages from the drawer. He moved to wrap the girl's injured limbs. He twisted the length of bandage around the girl's arm. Then, he bit off the excess bandage and tied the wrapping securely. Allen did the same with her other arm and with both of her legs. Now, he was left to tend to her fractured ribs.

"Lenalee, I'm going to tend to your fracture…" Allen spoke to the female exorcist before him. "This will be over soon…"

Lenalee was touched by the boy's concern that she gave him a faint smile and nodded.

Allen placed a knee on the edge of the bed for support. He gently placed a hand on the curve of Lenalee's back and hoisted her up.

"Ahh…" Lenalee gasped in pain. A piercing sensation shot through Lenalee as the exorcist lifted her. She quickly fell on Allen's chest and she tightly fisted the sleeves of his shirt in agony. She panted roughly as she laid her head on Allen's shoulder.

"Lenalee…" Allen's eyes furrowed with worry for the girl in his arms.

"Please…" Lenalee panted. "Don't worry…I-I can stand it."

Allen reached out for the bandages. He gently wrapped the bandage around the girl's bare chest; he bit off the excess and tugged the bandage tighter.

"Ahh…Allen-kun," Lenalee gasped, her head slightly jerking up from the sudden pain as the cursed boy tugged on the bandage. Allen finished tying the bandages securely and gently lowered the girl on bed.

Lenalee was panting profusely, exhausted from the painful task. Her eyes were squinted as she looked up at the white-haired exorcist in front of her.

Allen pulled the blankets over Lenalee's body. He placed his ungloved hand over her forehead to check her temperature--to his relief, the girl was not coming down with a fever. Allen moved to the side table drawer to clean up the materials. Lenalee observed the subtle boy beside her.

"Allen…" Lenalee whispered.

Allen turned to look at the girl on the bed.

"Thank you…" Lenalee gave a faint smile at the white haired exorcist.

Allen smiled back but then his smile slowly lowered into an expression of subtle sadness as he slowly turned away from Lenalee.

"What's wrong?" Lenalee furrowed her eyebrows in worry.

"Lenalee…"Allen began. "I'm sorry….this is all my fault." Allen clenched his fists tight and gritted his teeth in self angst. "If I had gotten to you earlier, I could have protected you. If I had not gotten your innocence mixed up in the first place, you…" Tears started streaming down the cursed boy's tender face.

"Allen…" Lenalee spoke. "Please don't be so hard on yourself."

"But…" Allen snapped his head towards the girl. Allen's teary eyes widened as he saw the tender expression on the girl's face—there was no blame. His tear-pooled eyes narrowed as he gazed at the girl before him.

Lenalee shook her head. "Allen, it's going to be okay, so please calm down and don't handle the burden all by yourself…we're nakama."

"Lenalee…" Allen wiped his tears away and gently cupped Lenalee's hand in both of his. "I promise…will get through this together."

Lenalee smiled at the tender exorcist.

Five hours have passed. Kanda Yuu was lying down on his bed with Little Lucy seating on the edge of his bed. The deep gashes in his body were starting to heal and in by one or two day's time his wounds would be nothing but scars. Kanda had to admit that the little boy beside was a good assistant in helping him bandage himself—little as he was, the boy was alert and quite resourceful. Kanda sighed as he averted his eyes to gaze at the ceiling. A few moment later, he felt a sharp piercing pain in his arm.

"Oww…" Kanda hissed. He snapped his head to the side and he saw little Lucy beside his injured arm. Little Lucy was poking the bandage-covered cut on the samurai's arm.

"Hey, stop it kid!" Kanda grabbed the kid's finger with his opposite hand. But, little Lucy was persistent, so he continued poking the samurai's injury with his other hand. And because of the boy's constant poking, the cut was reopened and blood bled through the bandages. Kanda hissed in pain. "Why you…"

Little Lucy was fascinated by the bright scarlet liquid. His eyes twinkled in morbid amazement. He smeared his finger on the bleeding injury and stared at the red liquid at his fingertip. A mischievous grin crossed his lips.

This made the little boy want to play with the samurai. He giggled sweetly as he continued poking the samurai in his other bandaged areas. A cute giggling boy with sparkling eyes was poking an injured patient making him bleed—such irony.

"Stop it you…Oww! I'm not your squishy or anything!" Kanda shouted.

The little boy just giggled. He had a weird liking for blood—blood for him was some sort of enticing juice of happiness. (Author's note: writing this made me shiver.) Little Lucy was particularly fond of the black-haired exorcist because he displayed the most beautiful expression of displeasure—his scowl, his swearing—this all the more made the little boy excited and not the least bit offended.

Allen came inside the room. "I'm back."

"Gaaah!!" Kanda gasped. He quickly snapped his head towards the exorcist who just entered the room. "Moyashi!! Get your sadistic little kid off me!!"

Lucy instantly stopped poking the exorcist in bed. He faced Allen, who had just entered the room, and beamed at him. He clapped his hands in delight as he hopped off the bed and ran towards Allen. Allen quickly swept the little boy in his arms.

"So what have you been up to?" Allen asked the little boy. Lucy pointed at the injured exorcist on the bed.

"Che…" Kanda hissed, turning his back away from the 'father and son'.

"You shouldn't be bothering Kanda right now, Lucy," Allen reprimanded the little boy. "Because he's still healing…"

Little Lucy was saddened.

"But…" Allen added. "You don't have to wait that long since Kanda can get better really fast, so you can do whatever you want with him then."

The little boy clapped his hands as he giggled in delight.

"Oi!" Kanda shouted as he turned around towards the pair. Then, he let out a gasp as pain shot through him when he abruptly turned around.

"Don't move too much…" Allen walked, carrying Lucy, towards the injured samurai on the bed. And with one hand, he pulled the blankets over the samurai.

"Che…" Kanda hissed. "Just don't let that kid go near me."

"Fine," Allen sighed. "Well, I guess you're sleeping with me tonight, Lucy."

Lucy smiled brightly at the exorcist carrying him.

In the village of night, Lavi was in Miranda Lotto's room discussing together about their findings in the village. They spent the entire day or rather night, inquiring about the phenomenon in the village.

"It seems the people have grown accustomed to the night," Miranda said to the red-haired exorcist. "Most of them said that they don't really mind since they have electric lights generating around the village anyway."

"I tried asking some people if they ever tried visiting the other village, but they said there's some sort of barrier blocking them…" Lavi said as he put a hand on his chin. He furrowed his eyebrows in thought.

"But didn't we get in easily?" Miranda said.

"Yes, but that's probably because we have Innocence." Lavi replied. He then looked at his wristwatch. "Well, it's getting really late, Miranda. We should get some sleep. Let's go around the village tomorrow to ask more people around."

"Hai," Miranda agreed.

Lavi left Miranda's room and went back to his own quarters. He turned on the lights in his room; the light instantly flooded the once dim room. He walked towards the window at the other end of the room and gazed at the vast expanse of the night shrouded village, illuminated slightly by the streetlights running along the street.

"There should be something that could lead us to where the Innocence is." Lavi racked his brain for thoughts, but he was absolutely blank. The redhead bookman finally decided to retire for the night. He settled himself in his bed and drifted to sleep, hoping that their luck will turn out for the better by tomorrow.


	14. The Library

Konichiwa! Innocent-illusory here!! Gaaah!! I'm finally back...you have every right to flame me for the late update and I AM SO SORRY! I've just got back from my Recital and my trip in Samal Island, so I'm really tired. Also, this chapter made me use some analytical thinking and a bit of research so it took a while. So please don't give up on this story and enjoy this next chapter...no more late updates (at the most).

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_Chapter 14: The Library_

Lavi and Miranda were walking around in the nightly morning of the village of Belar. According to their watches it was 7:45 in morning and yet the sky was still as dark and gloomy, with no signs of brightening up at the least bit. They walked around the streetlight flooded streets of the gloomy village. They passed by desolate-looking brick buildings and stalls owned by pale and tired looking merchants.

The village of Belar was the complete opposite of its twin village—aside from one was day and one was night—the streets of Belar had quite a scarcity of people, quite the contrary with the other village which had streets full of bustling people. Most of the people in the village of night were in their homes, too tired to get out or even work. And the people who were out in the streets didn't even look like people; they looked more like zombies (according to the redhead bookman). Most of the people had pale skin and droopy eyes. Their movements were so languid and slow; it was as if they were about to stop and fall dead anytime. The people in the village of night were just as gloomy as their environment.

Lavi sighed. "This place is so not for me. It's like we're walking in a cemetery full of dead zombies."

"Lavi…"Miranda said to the bookman beside her.

"What?"

"How do we know where to find the Innocence?" Miranda asked.

"Err…" Lavi scratched his head. Then, they passed by a library as they were walking along the street. "How about we look at some books first? Maybe we could find some useful information."

"Good idea, Lavi-kun." Miranda nodded her as she and the redhead bookman headed inside the library.

The library was like a medieval dungeon. The corridor was entirely made out of stone and was faintly lit by lamps that hung on the walls. Just ahead, there was a spiral staircase that led upstairs.

Lavi and Miranda climbed the stairs and entered the room at the end. The room caught the two exorcists by surprise, for the room must have been the brightest in the entire village. There were wide candelabra chandeliers that lined up hanging down the ceiling, running towards the end of the bookshelf paralleled room. The light was almost blinding for the two exorcists who just came from a dimly lit corridor. There were wooden tables that lined on the side of room for reading. And thousands of books were stacked in shelves that almost touched the ceiling.

"Oh my god…" Lavi was astonished. He didn't expect such a gloomy village to have a library this huge stacked with numerous books. "It didn't look this big from the outside!"

"Errr, Lavi-kun…" Miranda tapped the bookman. "This library is so huge…"

"Well, like duh! Miranda..."

"Where are we going to start then?" The timid exorcist asked.

"Let's ask the librarian over there." Lavi pointed at the middle aged man dozing off on his desk at the near corner of the room with his head nestled in his arms.

The two exorcists approached the sleeping man on the desk. "Neh…Lavi-kun, I think we shouldn't bother him," Miranda said.

"Nonsense," Lavi scoffed. "That guy shouldn't be sleeping on the job in the first place."

Lavi moved closer to the sleeping man. He saw that the man had his mouth open with drool flowing out the corner of his mouth. "Eeew…gross!" Lavi thought in disgust. The man was snoring heavily, his nostrils flaring. Lavi lifted a finger and poked the snoring man on the cheek. The man just snorted. Lavi continued poking on the man's cheek, this time with a little more force to nudge the man's head to the side.

A vein popped out of the sleeping man's temple. His eyelids cracked open and he abruptly stood up. Lavi and Miranda gasped in surprised and staggered slightly backwards.

"Yo! Can't you just fuck off?! A man's trying to sleep here…you ain't suppose to be disturbing me. This is a library!!" the man yelled groggily at the two exorcists. Lavi and Miranda were left speechless. The man grunted and went back to sleep.

"Err…I guess he isn't helping us," Lavi said.

"Please don't mind him…" A young girl's voice resounded from behind the bookshelves. Suddenly, they heard a crashing sound and the bright chandeliers instantly switched off. The once bright room instantly turned pitch black.

"Oh my god, Miranda, what was that?!"

"Lavi-kun!!"

The two exorcists quickly fumbled for each other.

"L-Lavi-k-kun…I think you should check it out," Miranda said, quivering at the exorcist beside her.

"I'll go ahead, "Lavi said. "But you're going to follow me behind. I am not going there alone."

"H-hai," Miranda said.

Lavi went ahead with Miranda tailing behind him. They held each other's hand for support. Suddenly, a cold owner-less hand shot out from the dark and held Lavi's ankle.

"Agghhh!! Oh my god! Oh my god!" Lavi screamed in terror as he stumbled on the cold floor.

"Lavi-kun!!" Miranda shouted. "What happened?! I can't see you."

"Something just grabbed my ankle," Lavi shouted. "Miranda, I remember seeing a lighter on the librarian's desk, get it."

"But I can't see the way towards the desk…"

"Just get it!"

Miranda quickly turned and blindly ran back towards the librarian's desk—fortunately, they weren't that far yet from the desk so she easily arrived at the desk and she quickly fumbled for the lighter.

"Where is it?" Miranda whispered to herself. She had already held different items in search for the lone lighter: some papers, a pencil, a pair of scissors, a coffee mug and a slick, watery liquid near the sleeping librarian's head which she did not want to identify. "Eeew!!" Miranda yelped as she quickly retrieved her hand.

"Miranda hurry!" Lavi screamed. "It's coming towards me!!"

"I'm doing my best Lavi-kun!"

Lavi blindly reached his hand to feel for the presence in front of him. He felt fine, long, strands of 'something' under his fingertips. He got a thin bundle of the strands and gently rubbed it under his fingers. It felt like hair—it was hair. Oh no…

"Miranda!! Hurry, hurry!! I-I think it's a ghost! Oh my god...she…err…it's straddling me!!" Lavi screamed frantically.

"Lavi-kun, I'm trying…"

"Agghh!! It's groping my…"

"Ah! I found it!" Miranda shouted, raising up the lighter in her hands. She quickly flicked the lighter on and turned the light towards the frantic exorcist in front. The faint light from the lighter made visible a small dark figure of a girl sitting in front of the redhead bookman with long black hair covering most of her face. Red liquid was visible, slowly trickling down the front area of her face uncovered by her hair.

"Aggghhh!! Aggghhh!!" The two exorcists screamed in unison.

"It's that girl…from that movie!!" Lavi screamed. (Author's Note: Guess what movie.)

Suddenly, the chandeliers went back on. And the two exorcists slowly calmed down. They finally got a clear look at the said 'ghost' in front of Lavi.

"Neh…" The little girl grunted as she lifted her hair back up to reveal her face. The little girl had pale skin and brown eyes. She was probably around nine or ten years old. And she had long black hair that reached her thighs. She wore a snow-white dress, but then drops of blood had flawed its whiteness. The girl was apparently suffering from a nosebleed.

"Err…your nose is bleeding." Lavi said to the small girl in front of him.

"Ehhh?!" The girl quickly touched the space under her nose and saw the blood on her fingertips as she retrieved it.

"Here…" Miranda held out a handkerchief for the girl in front of her.

"Thank you," the little girl thankfully accepted the handkerchief and she gently wiped the blood from her nose.

"Um…can you explain to us what just happened?" Lavi asked the girl in front of him.

The girl quickly sat up straight and bowed to apologize to the two visitors. "I am so sorry, how rude of me…I will explain what happened. But first, I would like to introduce myself. I am Giselle and I work here in the library."

"Nice to meet you Giselle," Miranda said to the girl in front of her. "I am Miranda Lotto."

"And I'm Lavi, just Lavi…" Lavi grinned.

"Nice to meet you too." Giselle beamed at the two exorcists. "Anyway, I was walking down here to meet you guys here, but I accidentally fell and hit my nose on the floor. I was about to get up but then a brownout occurred, so I had to fumble my way." Giselle turned to the red head bookman. "I am so sorry, Lavi-san. I didn't really mean to scare you."

"No, it's okay. No harm done…" Lavi shook his head.

Giselle lead the two exorcists through the aisles of shelves. "Please don't mind the librarian. He's really tired and pissed right now since his wife kept nagging him all night long—literally all NIGHT long."

The two exorcists instantly got the logic of the girl's statement. Since the village of Belar had twenty-four hours of night, most likely that the sad librarian was nagged by his wife just as long—pity him.

"So what are you looking for?" Giselle asked the two exorcists.

"We're looking for books about this village's history," Lavi said.

"Oh, that. It's this way. Just follow me." Giselle smiled at her guests and continued leading them through the aisles.

They finally arrived at the said aisle. "Please, you're free to stay as long as you like."

"Thank you," Lavi thanked the girl. He quickly rummaged through the shelves for books and in a few minutes he had stacks of books piling up on the table.

"Lavi-kun, you're amazing. You can read that many books?" Miranda said in awe at the diligent bookman.

"Well, I am a bookman. That old Panda and I keep on reading a lot of books. It's part of our job to be informed about a lot of things." Lavi grinned.

Lavi started to read the books he'd pick up while Miranda sat with Giselle. Miranda wasn't that into books so she decided to do her own information gathering by talking to Giselle.

"Neh, Giselle-chan. How long has this village been like this?" Miranda asked the young girl.

"About six months ago," the little girl said.

"Didn't the people mind at all?"

"Well for the first few months, the people were frantic. They were screaming things like "'god' was punishing them" or "the world was going to end". But fortunately, my great grandfather was able to pacify the people."

"Your great grandfather...? What is he?" Miranda asked.

"Great grandfather is the village elder. He lives alone in a cabin in the thin forest of the village. I occasionally visit him there to bring him books. It's because of him that I work in this library" Giselle said.

"How did he pacify the people?"

"Well, he said something about this phenomenon between the Twin Villages was prophesied to come and will soon end according to the writings of our ancestors during the time of the Great Flood. Great Grandfather said to believe in our ancestor's writing and to have faith that God will not abandon his people. The people instantly understood him and calmed down."

"I see…" Miranda said. Then, an idea struck at the timid exorcist. "Neh, Giselle-chan…" Miranda's eyes sparkled at the little girl. "Is it alright if we visit your Great Grandfather? We're just going to ask your Great Grandfather a few questions."

"I guess Great Grandfather wouldn't mind. I mean it's been months since we had new visitors here in the village. By the way, how did you get in here? There seems to be a barrier surrounding the village. We couldn't even get out of here." Giselle said.

"Well, err…we're a special case, hehe…" Miranda said wryly to the girl in front of her.

Giselle just shrugged.

Lavi on the other table was engrossed with all the books that he had taken from the shelves. He scanned every book for important information that could lead them to where the Innocence was. His eyes widened when he saw a specific article related to the case.

"...the Great Flood settled down after forty days and forty nights. The Great Ancestors witnessed a piece of the Golden Colossal Star took flight towards the village. The piece of the Golden Colossal Star hit impact on the earth. Then, a massive earthquake shook the land where The Great Ancestors stood on. The once single village was torn into two and was separated by a wide raging river…"

"The Gold Colossal Star mentioned here might be the giant block of Innocence," Lavi thought. "When one of the Innocence fell here, it caused the separation of the village." Then, Lavi stared at the book in his hand. "What if the Innocence is still in the place where it landed…but the problem is where."

Lavi moved to scan the next book in his hand. Then he read:

"…according to the Great Village Oracle, after centuries of alternating days and nights, there will come a time in this blessed land where the sun and moon with their children of stars will hide in the heavens, lost in our view—yet their majestic glory will continuously emanate for countless of days in the brother villages…"

"This prophecy is obviously true," Lavi thought. He turned a few pages and continued reading:

"…when the chosen is born and in time shall reach primary knowledge will the said phenomenon occur in our blessed village. Only _he_ can return the sun and the moon and their children of stars in the heavens above the brother villages…"

"So, this is talking about the host. Since the phenomenon is happening, the host must be already present here in the village," Lavi thought. "Maybe there's something related to this."

Lavi continued reading his books for several hours. He came across Roman Mythology, Ancient Hymns, Astronomy and Zodiac Signs. The longer he kept on reading, the farther he went astray from their case—this frustrated the redhead bookman.

"Gaaah!!" Lavi held his head and shook it in frustration. "There's nothing in here that says where _specifically _the Innocence is, not even hints!!"

"Lavi-kun." Miranda tapped the bookman's shoulder. "How about you take a break for a while..."

Lavi sighed and nestled his head in his arms on the book-stacked table.

"Did you find anything, Lavi-kun?"

"Yeah…" the bookman sighed. "The piece of Innocence that fell in the village caused it to separate. And now, I'm thinking that the Innocence might still be in the place where it landed, but that's the problem since it's not written here. Also, the phenomenon between the Twin Villages was already prophesied and according to the Oracle it happens when 'the chosen' is born—I believe that the host of the Innocence that we are looking for is present in the village since the phenomenon is happening right now."

Miranda processed the information from the bookman.

"So…you find anything on your part?" Lavi asked Miranda.

"Well, I talked to Giselle-chan and she said that her Great Grandfather is the village elder. So, I was thinking that maybe we should pay her Great Grandfather a visit since we might find some useful information."

"Good idea, Miranda," Lavi said to the exorcist beside him. Lavi could feel that they were getting closer to finding the Innocence. Giselle's Great Grandfather might give them the information they're looking for and in no time they will be able to meet up with the others.


	15. The Village Elder

Konichiwa! Innocent-illusory here. Finally...after 48 years, i have finally finished this chapter. Been so busy...been so tired...It was a struggle to find time to write this chapter. Climax is almost near (oh, joy!) Thank you once again for those who still read and reviewed even though there were some inconsistencies with the updates...so sorry for that. Here's chapter 15! Enjoy!

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Chapter 15: The Village Elder

Giselle led the two exorcists to her Great Grandfather's house. They each carried lamps as they traveled through the forest path leading to her Great Grandfather's house.

"Please bear with me for a while," Giselle said to her guests. "We're almost there."

"Oh, we don't mind, Giselle-chan" Miranda said. "You don't need to worry about us."

After almost an hour of walking, they finally arrived in front of a small wooden cabin. The cabin was plain and simple. Red orange light glowed inside the cabin, visible through the lone glass window beside the door—the light was probably coming from a burning flame in the fireplace inside the cabin. Age could be seen from the wooden walls of the cabin as the wood was weakening from rot and fungi were thriving in its cracks.

"We're here," Giselle announced. She moved towards the cabin door and knocked on it twice. "Grandfather, it's me Giselle."

"Giselle..." A hoarse low voice resounded from behind the door with the sound of slow footsteps on creaking wood. Then, the wooden door opened revealing an old man wearing a loose robe and a pair of wooden slippers. The old man was slouching as his back was curved inward due to spinal aging. The top part of his head was completely bald with some liver spots all over but he had thin tuffs of white hair on the sides of his head. He had heavy wrinkles in his skin and droopy eyes with thick-lens spectacles in front of them. He also had a long twisted beard that reached his chest. And he supported himself with a wooden cane.

"Grandfather, I brought some guests with me," Giselle said as she gestured to the two exorcists behind her.

"I'm Lavi," Lavi introduced himself. "It's an honor to meet you sir."

"A-ano…I'm Miranda Lotto." The timid exorcist bowed as she introduced herself to the old man. "…an honor to meet you as well sir."

The old man squinted his eyes to see the two exorcists. "Yes…I see. Now, what do you two want from an old man like me?"

"Sir, we're just here to ask you a few questions about the Twin Villages," Lavi said.

"Well, let's talk inside," the old man invited them inside his house.

The two exorcists entered the small cabin and they were intrigued by the towering stacks of books that welcomed them as they entered the living room. The flame in the fireplace glowed bright red orange, illuminating the room full of buildings of books. An old armchair stood near the fireplace and a sofa, cluttered with books gathering dust, faced in front of it.

"Please sit down," the old man offered to the two exorcists, gesturing to the sofa. He went towards the armchair and sat down.

"Err, thank you…" Lavi said wryly. He and Miranda slowly shoved the clutter of books aside and cleared some space for them to sit down.

"I'm sorry," Giselle bent down to whisper to the two exorcists seated on the sofa. "My Great Grandfather has spent his whole life reading books and he doesn't really bother to tidy up."

"It's okay…" Miranda said to the young girl.

Giselle smiled and turned to face her Great Grandfather. "Grandfather, I'm going to prepare some tea. I'll just be in the kitchen."

"Okay," the old man said to his granddaughter as she left for kitchen. He then turned to his two visitors. "Now what would you like to know?"

"Ahem…" Lavi cleared his throat. "Mister…?"

"My name is Pakito," the old man said. (Author's note: Pakito? Yah, I know. It was Roie-kun's idea. I suggested 'Pedro'…but really, who cares? Haha!)

"Pakito?" Lavi stifled a laugh.

"Lavi," Miranda said as she elbowed the redhead bookman beside her.

"Oh, right…" Lavi straightened himself and cleared his throat again. "Ahem, Mister, err…Pakito, did this phenomenon happen before in the past?"

"No, it never happened before," Mr. Pakito said. "If you young'ins did your reading, this phenomenon was to happen when the said 'chosen' one was born, according to the prophecy of the Village Oracle."

"I am quite knowledgeable of that," Lavi said. "Do you have any idea who might this 'chosen' one be?"

"I'm sorry son, but I have no idea of who might that be." The old man bowed his head. "No one displayed unusual behavior in the village to be suspected as the 'chosen' one. And also, for all we know, that person might be in the other village. We can't find out because we can't leave this village."

"I see," Lavi said. He held his chin as he thought. "According to the books, a piece of the Golden Colossal Star fell in your village, have there been any sightings of it here in the village?"

"The tea is here," Giselle announced as she emerged from the kitchen, carrying a tray of warm tea for everyone. "Here you go." She handed the cups to the two exorcists.

"Thank you." Lavi received his cup from Giselle. Miranda did the same and thanked the girl.

"Here you go, Grandfather." Giselle smiled as she handed the cup of tea to her grandfather.

"Thank you." Mr. Pakito accepted the warm tea. He slowly lifted the cup to his lips and sipped the tea, absentmindedly forgetting that the tea was extremely hot. He swallowed the hot liquid causing a burning sensation in his throat. His eyes watered in the pain and he dropped his cup of tea on the floor.

"Grandfather," Giselle gasped as she quickly went to her Grandfather's aid.

"Oh, no…" Miranda also went to help the old man.

The old man coughed violently as he held his throat in a futile attempt to soothe the pain. Suddenly, in the midst of his painful ordeal, Mr. Pakito suddenly had a vision—a cursed blessing he had inherited from his father, the Great Village Oracle, was being able to 'see'. Although these visions were proven to be helpful in the village, they were quite arduous for Mr. Pakito for they came in much unexpected intervals—and this one was no exception.

His head started to throb and his eyes started to burn in pain with the painful sensation in his throat. He fell on his knees to the floor still grasping his throat.

"Grandfather, is your throat alright..?" Giselle worriedly asked her grandfather.

"Aaagh!! My eyes…they burn!!" Mr. Pakito screamed in pain.

"Eh?" Giselle was slightly taken aback from the obscurity of her grandfather. It was quite odd of her Grandfather to be holding his throat and scream that his eyes hurt—old age must be toying with his nerves.

Suddenly, Mr. Pakito froze. His hands lost their grasp on his throat and fell limply to his side. He slowly raised his head facing the ceiling.

"Grandfather, what's…?" Giselle spoke but then suddenly her grandfather's eyes started to glow white and he started to speak in a hoarse voice—a voice that was apparently not his.

"I see…" The possessed old man started to speak. "…a golden orb."

Lavi's eyes widened at the old man's words. He instantly went in front of the old man and kneeled on par with him. "He must be talking about the Innocence. I must hear him out," Lavi thought. "Where…where do you see it?"

"It has finally awakened after a long time…" Mr. Pakito said. "…because it has found him."

"The user…" Lavi whispered. "Who..?"

"Yo! One question at a time, Rabbit-boy!" Mr. Pakito's voice changed back to his. "I ain't doing this for money ya know!"

Lavi pouted.

Mr. Pakito cleared his throat and began to speak with his 'possessed' voice. "The place of half...it's above…I see it's reflection in blue…where the reflection of the original sky used to be."

"What does that mean?" Lavi asked.

"Ya figure it out for yaself, foo!" Mr. Pakito spoke with his original voice as he scowled at the redhead bookman in front of him. "It's a vision, so can't give ya nothin' more than that." And at this, Mr. Pakito closed his eyes and fell limply on the floor.

"Pft…" Lavi scoffed.

"Grandfather!" Giselle exclaimed as she slowly lifted her grandfather's body.

"Don't worry, Giselle-chan," Miranda said. "He just lost his consciousness."

"The place of half…it's above…it's reflection in blue…where the reflection of the original sky used to be," Lavi repeated the words of the old man. He held his chin. "The place of half…where could that be?" he thought. He stood up and walked towards the window. "The place of half...where is that depicted here in the village? The place of…" Lavi looked up at the sky outside the window. "The sky is so dark…Allen and the others must be enjoying the bright sky on the other side…" Lavi sighed. Suddenly, an idea struck him. "The other side…that must be it. The place of half…the boundary!"

"Miranda, I figured it out!" Lavi announced to his fellow exorcist.

"Lavi, that's great." Miranda beamed to the redhead bookman as she approached him.

"The Innocence is at the boundary where day and night meet!" Lavi said. "'It's reflection in blue' must mean that _it's above_ the water in the river. The river used to have the reflection of the sky before this phenomenon happened."

"You're right, Lavi!" Miranda said as she processed the information in her head. "How about the user? Do you have any idea who it is?"

"Yes, I have a hunch on who it is," Lavi said to his fellow exorcist. "Now we have to go and contact the other and tell them about this."

"Hai," Miranda said.

"Thank you so much for your kindness," Lavi bowed to Giselle with her unconscious Grandfather. Miranda did the same.

"Hai," Giselle said to her visitors.

Lavi motioned to help Giselle lift her Grandfather on the sofa. "I'm sorry, but we can't stay long. We have to go to do something urgent."

"It's okay." Giselle smiled to her guests. "Please, take care."

"Hai," Lavi and Miranda said in unison as they left the cabin.

Lavi and Miranda rushed their way out of the forest, but unbeknownst to them a dark figure behind the trees had stalked them during their entire episode in the cabin.

The two exorcists arrived back at the inn and they immediately phoned their companions at the other village.

Allen and Little Lucy were helping Kanda take the bandages off his body. The Samurai exorcist's wounds have completely healed after a day of complete rest and of being away from Lucy's consistent poking.

"Here you go Kanda," Allen said as he pulled off the last length of bandage from the black-haired exorcist's torso. "That's the last layer."

"Che…" Kanda hissed.

"I don't even get a thank you!" Allen scowled the older exorcist. "Impudent ingrate!"

Little Lucy clapped his hands and giggled. He then moved to hug the grouchy exorcist's waist.

"Oi!!" Kanda yelped.

Allen scoffed. "I wonder what Little Lucy sees in you. He seems glad that you've recovered."

"Che…" Kanda hissed.

Just then, Timcanpy rang and he quickly flew towards his owner.

"It's a call," Allen said. "I'm going to take this. I'm going to leave you two for a while." And at this, the white haired exorcist left the room and headed downstairs to the reception area where the phone was. He connected the golden golem to the phone and put the receiver to his ear.

"Hello," Allen said.

"Allen!!" an excited voice resounded from the receiver. "We know where the Innocence is!! We know!!"

Allen distanced the phone from his ear. The happy bookman was shouting through the receiver. "Calm down, Lavi," Allen said. "Explain."

"There's no time for that, Allen!" Lavi said. "I don't need to explain. It has always been there from the start!"

"What do you mean, Lavi?" Allen asked.

"Just meet us at the boundary of the two villages in the bridge," Lavi said. "Hurry!" And at that, the redhead bookman hung up.

Allen quickly ran upstairs and slammed the door of their room open.

"What's up, Moyashi?" Kanda cocked an eyebrow at the exorcist who just entered the room.

"The Innocence…" Allen said. "They know where it is."


	16. The Calling

Konichiwa, Innocent-illusory here! and here's another update! Enjoy...

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Chapter 16: The Calling

"I'm sorry Lenalee, but you can't come with us. Please understand," Allen pleaded to the female exorcist in front of him. Allen Walker was in Lenalee's quarters, trying to persuade her to stay behind while he and Kanda go meet up with the others to retrieve the Innocence. The girl was still recovering from her previous injuries and the cursed boy couldn't bear to see her get hurt again.

Persuading Lenalee proved to be an arduous task for the cursed boy for she was being rather stubborn.

"Allen, I want to come with you," Lenalee said with determination. "You don't have to worry about me; I'm fine now. See?" Lenalee stood up with her bandaged legs to assure Allen that she was fine. She winced in pain as she did so but she bowed her head to hide it—but Allen, being as sensitive as he was, saw the girl's slight struggle. Allen walked closer towards her and he firmly held her arms. Lenalee looked up at Allen, and she saw the worry in his eyes.

"Lenalee…Please don't force yourself," Allen said in a hush voice. "Please just stay here and rest…"

"NO!" Lenalee cried. "I can't do that. I can't stay here while you guys are out there!"

"But Lenalee, what if Tyki shows up again…" Allen said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Then, I'll fight with you!" Lenalee cried.

"No, Lenalee. You can't!" Allen yelled.

Lenalee's eyes widened; she was surprised by Allen's forcefulness. Her eyes squinted as they started to pool with tears. "Allen! You baka!" she cried as she pounded her fists on Allen's chest. "You think I'm just a burden…"

"That's not it, Lenalee…" Allen said.

"If you think that I'm really useless then…"

"Lenalee!" Allen bellowed and Lenalee stopped. "Please, it's not like that; it's just that...I don't want you to get hurt anymore," Allen said tenderly.

"Allen…" Lenalee looked up and her eyes met with Allen's.

"So please, Lenalee...don't make me worry," Allen said as he placed a gentle hand on her cheek.

Tears started streaming down Lenalee's face. She wanted to fight with her companions so badly, but seeing Allen's worried face made her think otherwise. Fisting the cloth of Allen's uniform, she buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed, "I'm sorry, Allen…I'm sorry."

"Lenalee…" Allen wrapped an arm across her back. "It's alright."

"Oi!" Kanda shouted from the door. Kanda had Little Lucy riding on his back. Lucy popped his head over Kanda's shoulder to see the two other exorcists. "Moyashi, let's get going so I can leave this kid now."

Allen sighed and let go of Lenalee. Lenalee wiped her tears and looked at the samurai who just entered the room. "Kanda, take care…" she said to him.

"Che…" Kanda scoffed. "I know."

Lucy slid down Kanda's back and ran towards Allen. He quickly wrapped his small arms around Allen's leg and then he raised his head up to look at him. Allen peered down at the little blue-haired boy below him and he moved to kneel down on par with the small boy.

"Lucy, take care of Lenalee-chan for me okay?" Allen said to Lucy as he gently brushed his light-blue hair.

Lucy nodded and he wrapped his arms around the white haired exorcist's neck.

Allen stood up and turned to Lenalee. "We'll be going then," he said.

"Hai…" Lenalee said. "Take care…"

Lavi and Miranda were standing in the middle of the bridge, waiting for their two other companions to arrive.

"What's taking them so long?" Lavi said impatiently.

"Lavi, there they are!" Miranda pointed at the two distant figures heading towards them.

"Geez…" Lavi scratched his head. "What took them so long?"

Allen and Kanda reached the two exorcists in the middle of the bridge.

"Sorry we're late…" Allen panted. "We had to take care of some stuff."

"You two are late," Lavi scolded the two exorcists who just arrived.

"Che," Kanda hissed. "Just shut up Rabbit!"

"Where's Lenalee?" Lavi asked, darting his head around in search for the exorcist.

"She can't come with us because she's injured," Allen said. "We can't risk her getting hurt again."

"What?" Lavi and Miranda said in unison, both surprised by the news about their companion.

"Akuma attacked the village and we had to fight them off," Allen said. "Lenalee got heavily injured in the incident."

"And Lucy, where is he?" Lavi asked.

"The little brat's back at the inn with Lenalee," Kanda said.

"Why?!" Lavi exclaimed.

"Huh? Why so flustered, Rabbit?" Kanda cocked an eyebrow at the redhead bookman.

"Because, Lucy could be…" Before Lavi could even start explaining, a flight of Tease suddenly appeared out of nowhere and enshrouded the group.

"Shit!" Kanda hissed. He activated his boots and he kicked some of the tease out of the way, but this was futile for they just kept on growing in number.

"That's it!" Allen cried. "Edge End!" Allen activated his hand and swiped his sharp claw through the storm of Tease surrounding them and instantly, the black butterflies fell one after the other and they quickly disintegrated.

A clapping sound resounded from above. Tyki Mikk was floating above the air with his flight of Tease surrounding him. He was clapping his hands for he was delighted once again to see his favorite playmates. "My, we meet again my darling exorcists." Tyki grinned mischievously. "I wonder what brings you here…"

"Tyki…" Allen hissed, scowling at the Noah above.

"Hmm...it couldn't be that the Innocence..." Tyki paused. A sly grin stretched on his lips and his eyes glinted. "…might be here."

"You!" Allen lunged himself towards the dark Noah above and swiped his sharp claws across him. But Tyki jumped back, evading the attack and he landed on the bridge floor. Suddenly, Kanda shoots down from above, aiming to land on the Noah, but as the black-haired exorcist landed on the bridge floor on impact, Tyki quickly jumped out of the way to evade the attack. Tyki cocked an eyebrow at the rather new sight.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to have a sword?" Tyki pointed at the black haired exorcist.

"Che," Kanda scoffed.

"Miranda!" Lavi called the timid exorcist beside him.

"What?"

"Do it." Lavi nodded his head.

"Eh?!" Miranda's eyes widened.

"Make the hammer grow," Lavi said.

Miranda took out the small hammer in her pocket and held its handle with both hands.

"Now say it, Miranda," Lavi instructed.

"A-ano, s-Size-shifting hammer…grow," Miranda said timidly and nothing happened.

"You have to say it out loud Miranda," Lavi said.

"Grow," Miranda said slightly louder.

"Don't you know how to shout, woman?!" Lavi exclaimed.

"Size-shifting hammer, GROW!!" Miranda finally shouted in agitation. And the small hammer grew in size and Miranda instantly swung it towards the dark Noah.

"Whoa!" Tyki jumped up evading the massive hammerhead. He would have gotten hit if he jumped a second too late.

"Huh?" Another strange sight—"Aren't you supposed to have that dinner plate wristwatch?" Tyki pointed at Miranda. Then, the dark Noah turned to Lavi. "And aren't you supposed to have that giant hammer?"

Gloom loomed over the three exorcists as they were reminded of their unfortunate predicament. "It's that bastard's fault!" the three equipment-type exorcists said in unison as they all turned towards white haired exorcist and pointed at him accusingly.

Allen cringed.

"I see…" Tyki said. "Well, then that makes my job even…" Before Tyki could finish, a strong earthquake suddenly shook the bridge and the river started raging violently. Then, a huge cyclone started to form in the river and the skies of the two villages—day and night merged, spiraling, creating a single gray sky of gloom.

"It can't be…" Lavi gasped. He quickly went to the side of the bridge where the cyclone was and with his sharp eye he peered down to see what was inside of the cyclone—it was the Innocence.

The people in the village of Darth were running frantically along the earthquake shaking streets. "It's the end of the world!" the people screamed. "What have we done to deserve this?!"

Lenalee and Lucy quickly got out of the inn and they fled to find for a safe place to hide amidst the panicking people. Lenalee held Lucy's hand as they ran along the streets.

"Lucy, here…" Lenalee turned towards a deserted alley. She decided that it would be best to wait for a while until the earthquake dies down. Lucy moved closer to Lenalee and he held her hand tighter. The little boy was starting to get scared.

"Lucy…" Lenalee kneeled to be on par with the little boy. She then wrapped her arms around the scared little boy. "It's going to be okay. Allen-kun and the others are taking care of this."

Lucy nodded and he laid his head on Lenalee's chest.

Suddenly, the earthquake shook more intensely and the buildings were gradually starting to fall apart.

"Oh no," Lenalee gasped as she wrapped her arms tighter around Lucy. Lucy closed his eyes.

"Lucian…"

Lucy quickly opened his eyes. Someone was calling him--the voice was rather soothing, almost angelic.

"Come here…"

Lucy lifted his head up and he pushed himself away from Lenalee.

"What's wrong Lucy?" Lenalee asked the small child in front of her.

Lucy pointed outside the alley.

"Lucian, come to me…" the voice continued.

Lucy wanted to follow the voice--its beautiful tone was enticing him to. He walked outside the corridor and into the crowd of people.

"Lucy!!" Lenalee cried as she followed after him.

The voice was leading Lucy towards the end of the village where the bridge was.

"Lucian…" the voice called him.

At this, Lucy started to running towards the bridge.

"Lucy, wait!" Lenalee cried as she ran behind him.

Lucy arrived at the edge of the bridge and he froze to stare at the rampaging cyclone in the middle of the river—the voice was coming from there.

"Lucy-chan!" Lenalee finally caught up with the little boy. She placed her hands on her thighs as she panted for air. She straightened up and looked at what the little boy beside her was watching. Her eyes widened in shock.

"What's...going on?" Lenalee whispered.

"Clown Belt!" Allen whipped his white belt towards the Dark Noah. Tyki Mikk easily avoided it. The Dark Noah's hand emanated violet light and it turned into a sharp wedge. Tyki charged at Allen and he swung his sharp wedge. Allen quickly lifted his claw to block Tyki's attack.

"You're getting annoying, shounen," Tyki hissed. Tyki's eyes widen in fury as he summoned a black orb of energy in his other hand. "Die!" he yelled as he released the black orb of energy towards Allen.

"Shit!" Allen quickly jumped back and crossed his arms in front of him to shield himself from the charging ball of dark energy. The black orb met him on impact, sending him skidding on the floor.

"Allen!" Lavi cried. Lavi turned to look at his wristwatch. "I better use this." Lavi lifted his hand. "Innocence, hatsudou! Time Record!"

His wristwatch emanated a golden glow and changed into a plate-size dial. Lavi concentrated focusing his time record on his comrades—of course he wouldn't want to include Tyki in his time record. Clock faces emerged from his comrades as the damage on their bodies slowly healed back temporarily.

"Allen!" Lenalee shouted.

"It can't be…" Allen quickly stood up and turned his head to see the female exorcist on the edge of the bridge. He saw Lucy with her, staring at the cyclone in the middle of the river.

"You're in the way, shounen!"

Allen's eyes widened as the Dark Noah fled past him--he was heading towards the little boy at the edge of the bridge.

"No!" Allen charged after the Noah, barring his sharp claw.

Lenalee's eyes widened as she saw the two young men heading towards them—she and Lucy needed to get out of the way.

Suddenly, another earthquake struck more intensely than before, causing the edge of the bridge to collapse. The two racing young men were put to stop in their tracks.

"What the…" Allen hissed as he quickly grabbed hold on the side of the bridge.

"Lucy!" Lenalee shouted as she reached for the boy's arm.

Lucy snapped out of his trance as he heard the female exorcist cry. He quickly turned around to reach for Lenalee's hand but the floor below him crumbled, sending him down towards the raging rapids of the river.

"Lucy!" Lenalee cried and seconds later, she too followed the boy into a watery grave.

"No!!" Allen quickly ran towards the edge of the bridge and dived into the river—he needed to save them.

"Dammit!" Tyki cursed. He rushed towards the edge of the bridge to follow but suddenly Kanda landed in front of him and gave him a spinning kick. The dark Noah quickly lifted his arm to block the kick.

"Where do you think you're going, bastard?" Kanda hissed as he forced his kicking leg further towards the Noah who just blocked it.

"Get out of the way," Tyki hissed as he struggled to push away Kanda's leg. Kanda and Tyki quickly jumped back.

"You're no match for me," Tyki said.

"Try me," Kanda smirked.


	17. The Unexpected

Konichiwa! Innocent-illusory here...at last, another update. Please enjoy this next chapter!

* * *

Chapter 17: The Unexpected

The cyclone was drawing Lenalee and Lucy towards it. Lenalee stretched out her hand—desperately trying to reach for the unconscious boy ahead of her but the distance between them was just too great.

"Lucy," Lenalee thought as she pushed herself closer towards the boy. Her eyes widen as she saw just how close the boy was getting to the cyclone. Lenalee began to panic and she frantically kicked her legs to propel her closer towards the boy, but her legs were still too weak due to the unhealed injuries she still had.

"Dammit!" Lenalee mentally cursed, as she exerted more effort on her legs. Suddenly, the cyclone raged more intensely and before Lenalee's eyes, Little Lucy was sucked into the heart of the vortex.

"Lucy!!" Lenalee mentally shrieked. She herself was about to be sucked into the vortex until a pair of strong hands embraced her and pulled her farther away. Lenalee looked up to see her savior.

"Allen…" she thought lastly as exhaustion got to her and her mind went blank.

Allen Walker had Lenalee unconscious in his arms. He wanted to go after the little blue-haired boy who was devoured by the vortex but he couldn't risk putting the girl in his hands into anymore danger. He decided that it was best to bring her back up to safety. Allen gritted his teeth as he swam farther away against the vortex's pull.

--

"Lucian…"

Little Lucy woke up as he heard the voice call to him again. He was now in the heart of the cyclone but oddly he felt very light and not the least bit scared. The voice was coming from the glowing light in the middle of the vortex.

"Come to me…" called the angelic voice.

Lucy approached the glowing orb.

"I am yours…" the voice said.

And at this, Lucy made contact with the orb.

Allen emerged from the raging rapids, carrying the unconscious girl in his arms. Allen kneeled down and laid Lenalee on the ground. He had his arm under her neck and he lifted her head towards him.

"Lenalee!! Get a hold of yourself!" Allen cried as he shook her to wake, but the girl didn't respond. Allen fingered the girl's wrist to check for a pulse and to his relief he felt a faint throbbing—Lenalee was alright. A few seconds later, Lenalee violently coughed out excess water in her lungs and she opened her eyes, gasping for breath.

"Ugh…" Lenalee regained her consciousness.

"Lenalee!" Allen cried. "You're alright…"

"Allen…" Lenalee whispered. Suddenly, she remembered the little boy who was devoured by the vortex. She quickly sat upright and she turned to Allen.

"Lucy…where is he?!" Lenalee cried.

"I'm going to bring him back," Allen said. He quickly stood up and headed for the river. But suddenly, a thick ray of white light shot up from the heart of the cyclone.

"Gaah!!" Kanda crashed on the floor as the Dark Noah kicked him on the stomach.

"Ha! You're in a complete disadvantage here, shounen." Tyki smirked. "You don't even have your original weapon."

"Che," Kanda hissed. The Time Record quickly took effect at the long haired exorcist and his damages were recovered. Kanda charged at the Dark Noah but suddenly, a thick ray of white light shot up from the cyclone which diverted the exorcists' and Tyki's attention.

The ray of light shot up, causing an explosion of water. Water reached the clouds and it started to rain.

In the middle of the fortress of light, there stood Lucy holding the Innocence with him.

"I knew it!" Lavi said.

"It's Lucy…" Lenalee gasped.

"That little boy…" Tyki quickly lunged up towards the little boy, raindrops pattering on him as he made his way up.

"You bastard!" Kanda launched himself up to follow the Dark Noah, but then Tyki quickly turned to face the exorcist and sent a flight of tease to enshroud him.

"Shit!" Kanda swatted the black butterflies but they kept on persistently coming back. Kanda was thwarted to go any further.

Tyki was now in front of the blue-haired little boy. The Innocence was emanating in the hands of the little boy.

Little Lucy's eyes widen as he saw the Dark Noah in front of him. He quickly moved back, holding the Innocence tight in his hands as he sensed the Noah's ominous intent.

Tyki grinned mischievously as he moved his gloved hand to reach into the wall of light. But suddenly, a white ribbon whipped around his wrist and tugged his hand away.

"That's as far as you go, Tyki!" Allen yelled from the bridge. Allen pulled his Clown Belt, instantly hauling the Dark Noah back towards the ground.

"You!" Just as Tyki was about to hit impact on the ground. He quickly summoned his sharp wedge and slashed the white length that held him. He somersaulted in the air and he landed safely on the ground.

"Miranda, now!" Lavi shouted.

Miranda lifted her hammer and struck it down the Dark Noah. The hammer landed on the ground; its force was so great that it shook the bridge.

"Whoa!" Lavi yelped as he fell on his backside. As Lavi fell on the floor, a shiny penny fell out of his pocket and rolled its way towards the battlefield. The penny stopped as it collided with a pebble and it laid, tilting on the small rock.

"Did I get him?" Miranda panted.

"Miranda, look out!" Allen cried.

Tyki rose from behind the timid exorcist. As Miranda turned to face him, Tyki quickly spun a kick and sent her thrashing to the side.

"Cross Grave!!" Allen sent a cross-shaped blaze towards the Dark Noah. Tyki quickly crossed his arms in front of him to block the blaze, but he wasn't fully prepared when the cross-shaped blade met him.

"Gaah!!" Tyki was sent back, smoke coming out from the part of his arms where the heated blade penetrated him.

Tyki Mikk was getting pissed now—not only was he getting his ass kicked but he was starting to get a cold from staying too long in the rain. He wanted to get this over with as soon as possible and the only way to finish this was to get serious…

--

Kanda landed beside the white-haired exorcist as he finished dealing with the black insects.

"Oi, Moyashi!" Kanda called at the younger exorcist beside him.

"It's Allen." Allen snapped at Kanda.

"Che...I am so going to kick your ass once we get this mission over," Kanda said.

"Ooh…I'm so scared," Allen said with oozing sarcasm.

"It's still too early to celebrate…"

Allen and Kanda quickly turned to where the ominous voice came from and suddenly a dark ball of energy came from its direction.

"Look out!" Allen shouted. Both exorcists quickly jumped out of the way as the ball of energy hit the floor where they stood on.

Tyki Mikk was furious now. He emerged from the gray clouds of dust, holding a dark ball of energy in his hand. The ball was growing in size as the Dark Noah walked closer towards the two exorcists. Tyki snapped and then he hurled the black mass of energy towards the cursed boy.

"Moyashi!" Kanda shouted.

Allen quickly stretched out his claw hand and he subdued the great mass of energy.

"Damn," Allen grunted. He shoved his claw hand forward, pushing the dark mass away from him; however, Tyki was on the other side of the huge mass opposing his strength. The Dark Noah pushed the energy ball further towards the cursed boy—both their arms were trembling in tension.

"Die in hell, Allen Walker!!" Tyki yelled. The Dark Noah was furious; his eyes widen as he applied more force to the dark energy ball. Finally, the Dark Noah gave one violent shove with his hand and he overcame the cursed boy's strength.

"Gaah!!" Allen was sent hurling towards the ground.

"You!" Kanda leaped in front of Tyki, but suddenly the Dark Noah disappeared in front of him.

"What the…" Kanda said, but then the sound of a sharp object meeting with flesh resounded. Kanda's eyes widen as he turned his head to see the Dark Noah behind; his sharp weapon was driven into him.

"Gaah!!" Kanda screamed as the Dark Noah retrieved his weapon from the samurai's body. Kanda staggered forward and he fell on his knees.

"Oh no…" Lavi watched his comrades in dismay. He felt terribly useless and he wasn't usually like this. Lavi focused hard to return his companions back to their original state. He was running out of energy but he needed to hold on until then—his comrades were his first priority.

"Time Record," Lavi shouted. The golden plate dial glowed and the clock faces emerged from his comrades' bodies. They were slowly returning back to their fairly well state.

"Oh no, you don't!" Tyki leaped in front of the redhead bookman and gave him a swift punch in the stomach, preventing him from reversing his comrades' state.

"Damn!" Lavi grunted as he was sent skidding on the floor. He was losing his concentration and he won't be able to finish restoring his comrades to their original state.

The Dark Noah towered over the redhead bookman. "You know, that Innocence is sure troublesome. Why don't I just crush it first?" Tyki grabbed Lavi's wrist and moved to squeeze the golden dial.

Suddenly a barrage of sharp crown-shaped objects shot behind Tyki. Tyki quickly turned around.

"Edge End!" Allen swiped his claw across the Noah's chest. The Noah quickly jumped up, evading the attack and he landed behind the white haired-exorcist. Allen quickly turned around and whipped his clown belt towards Tyki, but the Noah leapt backwards avoiding the white length.

The gash in Kanda's side was bleeding profusely and he's body wasn't healing as fast as it usually did. The pain in his side made his body numb and it made it difficult for him to hoist himself up—this frustrated the young samurai. He was left on the sidelines, watching his self-bestowed 'Moyashi' fight the Dark Noah. Kanda felt useless and he was never one to be of no use and to be left as a spectator in the battle. The young samurai gritted his teeth.

"Shit!" Kanda hissed as he pounded his fist on the floor. Unexpectedly, the samurai hit the penny on its inclined side on the pebble and it shot up in the air.

Tyki sent a barrage of Tease towards Allen. In one quick swipe, the cursed boy was able to get rid of them and he quickly launched himself towards the Noah. Tyki dodged the cursed boy and he gave him a swift punch in the stomach. The cursed boy spat out blood as he was sent staggering back away from the Dark Noah.

"Heh…" The Noah twisted his fist. "This'll soon be over, shou—"

A shiny object suddenly shot Tyki's eye. The shiny object clanged on the floor as it fell—it was the penny.

The pain was instant. The Dark Noah held his eye as he screamed in agony.

"Gaah!! My fuckin' eye!!" Tyki staggered backwards. The pain was almost excruciating; his eyesight was getting blurry. Who would've expected that a measly penny could put all his guard down?

Allen and Kanda were alert when they saw the Dark Noah lose his guard. "Chance!" they said in unison as they lunged towards the off guarded Noah.

"Shit!!" Tyki screamed as the three of them collided. Clouds of dust exploded and chunks of debris flew as the collision happened. The Dark Noah was hurled backwards, crashing into a pile of broken rocks caused by the earthquake.

"Gaah!!" Tyki hissed in pain.

Suddenly, Tyki's mobile Tease (Author's Note: Can you even imagine what that would look like?) rang in his pocket. He quickly picked it up and answered it.

"What?!" Tyki yelled. "I'm busy here!"

Road Camelot's voice came out from the receiver. "Tyki!! You've got to come back quick!!"

"Why?" Tyki asked the hectic girl on the phone.

"The Earl was trying to eat this so called 'Sushi'—so he gobbled up one huge carp raw and he ended up choking in it!! Please, you need to get it out of his throat…just shove your hand into him!!"

"But I'm busy here…" Tyki reasoned. "I still have to get the Innocence from…"

"Screw the Innocence!!" Road yelled as she hung up the phone.

The Dark Noah sighed as he put his mobile Tease back into his pocket. He slowly hoisted up his painful body and he emerged from the debris.

"He's coming this way," Allen said as he braced himself on guard.

"Che…" Kanda hissed as he too followed the younger exorcist's stance.

"I'm sorry, my dear exorcists," the Dark Noah spoke. "...but our little charade here must end, due to a rather, errr…obscure reason. Let us continue some other time then."

"Wait!!" Allen shouted.

The Noah summoned his flight of Tease and he quickly vanished.

The barrier surrounding the two villages disappeared and the gray sky above the two villages cleared up revealing the original sky behind it—the soft light blue sky with its cotton-weaved clouds and the golden sun bestowing its rays on the two villages below it.

The fortress of light slowly died down and Little Lucy slowly descended to the ground. Allen caught him and cradled Lucy in his arms. The little boy was fast asleep holding the glowing sphere of Innocence in his tiny hands.

The mission was finally done.

* * *

An Epilogue to follow...hehe.


End file.
